Wherever the Winds Take You
by spiritfire13
Summary: Lina Dubois has never lead your 'typical' life. Growing up in an European circus, losing her mother, becoming an air-manipulating superhero. But rebelling against the Justice League and forming a teenage superhero team with her closest friends? That's a whole other level. (Reboot)
1. In Which Familiar Faces Appear

A/N: yes yes, I know. I couldn't stay away. I came to the realization that this platform is much more suited to a long, chronological, series and decided I'd reboot Lina's story on here as well as Tumblr.

I've uploaded the first 4 chapters, so that's what I'lol be pumping out today/tomorrow.

Just a little explanation. Italics are used a lot in this story. They help mark whether the Winds are talking, Lina's thoughts, or is something is being spoken in a different language (mostly French). It's pretty easy to tell which is which, but just thought I'd let you guys know.

I'm going to try to use the actual language itself from this chapter on out, but I won't be doing this with whole sentances.

Anywho, let's get started.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC. Young Justice and it's places, stories, and characters all belong to DC and the brilliant minds that created them.

With a sudden gasp of air, Lina's eyes snapped open.

Not that it did anything however, as she quickly became aware of the fact that everything around her was empty and pitch black. Not only that, but that she was floating through it. It was strange, like she was hovering just over the floor of a room that held no visible things save for pitch black walls she couldn't touch.

Moving her hand through the empty air, Lina was honestly a little surprised to find that her appendage did in fact move along with her brain's commands. Deciding to push her luck, she moved her whole arm and made a grabbing motion with her fingers. She failed to feel or grab anything, but the limbs moved accordingly. Next her other arms, her hand, her back, her neck, even her head: all moved as Lina's brain called for. The only peculiar thing she found was that, upon feeling with her hand, her hair floated and waved around as it pleased. Despite the fact that Lina could feel no wind.

"_Where am I_?" Lina thought to herself, but then realized the words had escaped her lips. The French words resonated in the air, a small echo that bounced off the out-of-reach walls. "_What on Earth? Hello?_" Not really to her surprise, her cry was not met with a response. This made her heart fall, as it meant she was alone in...wherever she was.

Looking down at her body, Lina realized she was wrapped in a simple white dress. The flowy skirt floating and waving in the same non-existent breeze as her hair, wide enough to block the girl's view of her feet. Suddenly, the sense of fear encased Lina's stomach. What if she didn't have any feet? What if she disappeared into the nothingness of the room after the skirt? Sure, she could feel her legs, and everything attached, but what if it all just wasn't there?

And so, not seeing any possible consequences to her actions, Lina took what to her body felt like a leg, and motioned to kick. As her foot swung forward however, an enormous wind suddenly came out of nowhere; hitting her full force. The wind caused her to spin uncontrollably like an infinite summersalt, and Lina let out a loud yelp in shock and fear as she stuck out her arms to try and balance herself to no real avail.

It was only a moment later that the voices came. Cold, loud, and crowded; as if there was an individual voice on every breeze, and each was yelling at the top of their lungs right into Lina's ears.

_"Who are you?"_

_"Who am I?"_

_"Why are you here?"_

_"What is this feeling?"_

_"I don't like this!"_

_"Let us go!"_

_"Please!"_

_"Why are we here?"_

_"Please!"_

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_"Are you even in control right now?"_

_"Do you really think you deserve to be here?"_

_"Please!"_

Lina clapped her hands over her ears and scrunched her legs up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. It didn't help. The voices seeped into her ears and seemed to wrap around her like a python, strangling her. She couldn't breathe. She didn't stop spinning. The voices kept growing, not stopping. They carried questions that Lina could hardly make sense of over the noise. Tears began to escape her eyes and stream down her cheeks, and Lina thought she started screaming but she couldn't be sure over the noise.

"_Shut up_!" Lina screamed, her brain grasping at any way for the winds to quiet down as her body began to rack with sobs and shivers. "_Just shut up! I want to go home! Please just shut up!_"

And just as quickly as it had started, any trace of the screaming winds and their questions vanished. Everything returned to how it had been at the beginning, or that was what Lina thought before she opened her eyes.

"_Lina_." A sweet, familiar voice called out. The voice immediately caught the girl's attention, but out of shock she did not open her eyes. "_Lina, _mon coeur_, please look at me_."

Slowly, the young girl lifted her hands off of her ears and opened her eyes. Looking up at where the comforting voice was coming from, Lina was met with the sight of the all too familiar woman standing before her.

She was tall and slender, a perfect dancer's body, with a heart-warming, smiling face that's only sign of age were the nearly invisible smile lines that decorated her light hazel eyes. Long, sleek, light brown hair flowed behind her in the same way that her younger's did, along with a similar white dress that seemed to have an unworldly glow as if radiating into the black nothingness that surrounded them. She looked down at Lina, her plump lips pulled into a small smile, standing with her hands neatly folded in front of her.

"_Mama_..?"

The woman's eyes lit up slightly at the recognition, her smile widening to reveal perfectly white teeth behind her lips.

"_Hello my little Butterfly_." The soothingly sweet voice of Veronique Dubois seemed to glide through the air as gracefully as her acrobatic moves once had been.

"_Mama, w_-" Lina stuttered lightly, her body unmoving, "_where are we_?"

"_That_," the woman hesitated, tucking a strand of light brown hair behind her ear, "_is a very hard question to answer, my Darling_."

"_What do you mean, Mama_?" Lina asked, her voice quivering. "_Mama, I'm scared. Where are we? What just happened with the air_?"

"_I'm very sorry, Lina_." Veronique replied, her eyes filled with sympathy for her daughter. "_But I cannot give you the answers you seek_."

Lina said nothing in return, but her glassy eyes were quick to fill with tears as they looked hopelessly up at her mother. Veronique bit her lip as her eyebrows furrowed with a sort of frustrated sympathy. She lifted her hand slowly, as to reach out to her daughter, but paused. Squeezing her fist tightly for a moment, the older woman then dropped it.

"_What's the last thing you remember, my little Butterfly_?" The woman asked, pulling her hand to her chest and her eyes filling with determination.

"_W-what_?" Lina sniffled.

"_Think back_," Veronique said sternly, "_what's the last thing you remember before you awoke here_?"

Lina's eyes furrowed but looked down in thought as her mind raced to do as she was told. But it was unclear, like all her past memories were at the bottom of a swimming pool. She could just make out their shapes, but as the ripples and waves flowed the picture moved and warped. But then, just as a tear rolled down her cheek, a small breeze brushed against it. The small wind felt cool on the tear's trail, but not in an unkind way. Aside from the cold, the breeze felt like a cat's tail, moving against her cheek and then curling behind her and brushing her hair. But then it spoke…

"_The flames_."

The voice was quiet, hushed, like a whisper.

"_What_?" Lina asked, looking up at her mother even though she knew that the whisper had not come from her.

Veronique did not reply, only looked back at her daughter with the only visible emotion on her face being patience.

"_The flames._" The whisper repeated, this time blowing through Lina's hair and speaking into the opposite ear as before. "_The flames_."

"_The flames_…" Lina echoed.

And just then, Lina was hit.

As Lina flew through the warm summer air, her single fist held onto the smooth material of the aerial silks that she hung onto. Her body helped swing the fabric in a wide circle over the round audience stands as she closed her eyes, embracing the feeling of her flight and the smell of sweat, chalk, and cheap circus food.

Once her flight over the stands had finished, Lina opened her eyes as she swung her body up and twisted her leg in the fabric above her, nearly reaching the top where the hanging mechanism lowly creaked, and nimbly wrapped her torso up securely so she hung safely upside down.

She waited a moment, then released her leg and held her breath as her body began rolling straight down towards the ground at top speed.

Embracing in the amazing chaos that came with tumbling to the Earth at about 50 mph, Lina's legs moved with muscle memory to reattach to the fabric.

"**_Now_**!"

The sharp, whip-like command from her mother ordered Lina's leg to yank, and with that she stopped her body and ripped her torso up, which she caught by using her hands as support, just as her legs zipped apart with the aerial fabric, landing her in the splits with the supporting fabric wrapped firmly around Lina's pointed feet. To land the pose, Lina threw her hand up towards the sky.

As Lina panted for breath, drops of sweat made their way down the sides of her face. And after a moment, when the dull sound of white noise left her ears, the sound of a small but passionate applause entered them.

Turning, she saw a small crowd of six people watching her. Her parents, her brother Calvin, and the familiar faces of Ringmaster Cortez and Mateo Alfonsi, the strongman of Cortez circus; were the ones applauding.

"That was spectacular!" Markus Dubois said, smiling proudly at her daughter. "You're really getting good at your solo act, Evangelina."

"You like any help there, Little One?" Mateo asked in English coated in a thick Russian accent. Lina smiled and shrugged, and the mountain-like man smiled and walked over, strongly grasping the thirteen year old girl and-after she disentangled herself-placed her on his heavily broad shoulders and walked her over to her parents.

"It was a very impressive routine Lina." The old Ringmaster says, stroking his long white beard in thought. His bright green eyes, already framed with smile lines, squinted. "You looked almost as beautiful as your mother flying up there."

"_Oh hush Mikael_." Veronique tutted, lightly slapping the Ringmaster's arm. "_You flatterer_."

"_He has a point, My Love_." Markus smiled, sliding an arm around his wife's waist. "_She so very much takes after her mother._"

Veronique blushed, but kissed her husband's cheek with a smile.

"What do you think, Mikael?" Calvin said, grinning up at his boss/family friend. "Do you think Lina will be able to do a solo show soon? She's been practicing way more often than most of the solo artists, and we all saw how muc-" "_Calvin, slow down_." Veronique said sternly. However, her hard tone was offset by the small smile on her lips and her fingers carding through her son's blonde hair.

"Excuse my son Ringmaster. He's excited to have another family act to preform under." Markus apologized, a smile on his lips that matched his wife's.

"I do not blame the boy." Mikael said, slapping the eldest of the Dubois siblings on the back. "A brother/sister act involving Lina's acrobatics and Calvin's flames would be exciting to say the least." The old man's eyes lit up in thought. "_Le Papillon et Le Pyrrhocore._"

"The Butterfly and The Firebug?" Mateo asked, testing to see if he had gotten the correct translation.

"It's a metaphor, right?" Lina whispered to the man who held her. "I'm not really a butterfly." Mateo smiled and nodded.

"I like that name, and I bet Leo would be happy to help make the poster for it!" Calvin said, a large grin on his face. "_What do you think Lina_?"

Lina simply smiled and nodded.

"_My little Butterfly_," Veronique smiled at her daughter with love and pride, "a name most fitting."

"Well I imagine we'll have to do a lot of set up and even more rehearsing before we get you your own act, as it's even more dangerous than doing it with your mother…" Cortez said, "but I don't see any reason why we can't open up this act in, say, a few months once you turn 14."

Calvin cheered loudly. Lina smiled, and laughed quietly to her brother's emotions, but remained silent on top of the mountain that was Mateo. The strongman looked up at the girl, smiling, and she reciprocated it but still did not say anything.

"We need to tell Leo!" Calvin said, stepping towards the tent's entrance. "_Lina, you coming?_" Lina looked at her mother, and then shook her head.

"I have some stuff I need to do with your sister to prep for tonight's show, _my Firebug_." Veronique answered. Calvin shrugged and ran out of the tent anyways.

"I should follow him, make sure the boys stay out of trouble together." Markus said to his wife, tilting her chin up towards his as he gently kissed her. "_Be gentle with her alright, don't work her too hard_."

"_I never do_." She replied, and the married couple held each other's hands as Markus walked away, until they grew too far apart and had to detach.

"We should probably leave as well Mateo. We indeed have a show to get ready for after all, and I think the elephant-handlers could use your muscles and height to get them ready." Mikael said.

Mateo replied with a simple hum and turned to look up at Lina.

"Is it alright if I put you down now?" He asked, and Lina nodded in return.

"Thank you Mateo." Veronique said politely, smiling up at the man. "What do you say Lina?"

"Please Miss," Mateo interrupted, putting out a hand to motion his request, "no thanks is needed, not when it comes to Miss Lina."

Veronique sent her daughter a small wink, but then went back to smiling at Mateo as he looked down at the girl in from of him.

"It was truly a lovely routine, Little One. I look forward to seeing more of your dances."

"Thank you." Lina said, smiling up at the man, who nodded at her before walking out of the tent, followed by Mikael.

"_Well my little Butterfly_," Veronique grinned as she turned to her daughter, "_Let's get started, shall we?_"

It wasn't more than half an hour later that the mother/daughter duo was prepped and ready for the show. The equipment had been prepared and checked over thrice, two full runs of the routine had been successfully completed without a single hitch, sparkly makeup had been applied to both women's faces to make their features visible from the crowds far below, and both their matching costumes had been put on.

Although that didn't stop Veronique from "fixing" her daughter's outfit.

"_You're getting so big, we're going to have to get new costumes soon_." The mother said with a small smile.

"_Yours fits fine, why don't we just get a bigger one for me and keep yours_?" Lina asked with a raised eyebrow. Veronique's lips turned up into a mischievous smirk.

"_Never give up an opportunity to get new clothes, my Darling_."

"_But Papa says_-""_Your father is brilliant at many things. Fashion and costumes do not fall under those categories_."

Veronique let out a little giggle, but Lina was just confused.

"_And you have your earplugs in, right?_" Veronique asked, looking over to see the bits of squishy foam in her daughter's ears.

"_They're uncomfortable_." Lina admitted, scratching at the skin attached to her ear.

"_I know my Darling, but you have to wear them for the show. You know how the loud music and the crowd's noises hurt you_." The mother said, sternly but voice filled with kindness.

Reluctantly, Lina nodded.

The costume that clothed both females was tight, and mostly coloured white with gold, sparkly, swirled patterns that Lina liked to trace before she went on to ease nerves. This was the duo's primary colour scheme for all their costumes, what they'd been wearing ever since their first show. As their first routine of the evening was an aerial act, their costume was a full-bodied leotard, with a small elastic on the sleeve that was worn on the middle finger to keep the sleeves tight.

Veronique always said that although she loved aerial work, she much preferred ground acrobatics and dance routines-their second and third acts of the night's show respectively-because the costumes were so much prettier and "theatrical".

"_There we go_," Veronique said, finally standing and letting go of Lina's costume, finally suited to her liking, "_so very beautiful_."

Lina smiled, but the moment was cut off when the smell of smoke entered through the crack of the dressing room door, causing Lina to cough.

"What the…" Veronique stepped toward the door, reaching for the handle, only to pull her hand away as the hot metal burned her hand.

Not a moment after, the door crashed off its hinges to reveal Mateo enveloped in a cloud of thick smoke.

"Miss, we need to get out now!" The large man said, causing the older woman to step back and grasp the coughing Lina's hand.

"Mateo, what-""there's no time to explain!" The man roared, as he grabbed Veronique's hand and began to run out with both women in tow.

Between her coughing fits and the heavy black smoke that emitted from them, Lina was greeted with the sight of the circus tent coated in roaring flames. The painted canvas, the wooden beams, the stories-tall equipment, the ring's walls, the bleachers: everything was blazing within the flames' grasp. The agonizing heat all around them caused Lina to falter, managing to pull her hand out of her mother's grasp to cover her face. Veronique let out a sharp squeal before grabbing her daughter's hand again with all the strength she could and resumed pulling her along.

They were so close to the exit, Lina could feel the cool breeze from the outdoors contrasting with the fire's heat. But suddenly the sound of splitting wood came from up above, just above the entrance, and Veronique's head whipped up. Her gaze then snapped to the entrance, which was still a few meters away.

"Go!" She yelled. And they did. Working purely on adrenaline, the three circus performers began to sprint even faster towards the door. But both adults proved too fast for Lina's much smaller legs, and the younger girl tripped and fell. Just as she did, the wood over them let out one last deafening crack before the tumbling wood began to crash to the ground.

Right over Lina.

"**Lina**!" Veronique cried, let go of Mateo, and ran over to her daughter.

But she was too late.

The wood crashed onto her just as she leapt over her daughter.

And everything went black.

Lina starred in shock, her body frozen from the shock at her last memory.

"_The wood_…" Lina murmured, mostly to herself. "It hit us, it hit us…it hit you..." Her eyes slowly raised to her mother, who greeted her with a small, knowing smile. "_Mama_…"

"_I'm sorry Lina_." Veronique said for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"_No_," Lina breathed, but then she straightened her spine, her tears turning angry. "**_No_**! _Neither of us can die! Not me, and especially not you! We're okay!_"

"_You are_."

Veronique's soft voice caused Lina to freeze.

"_W-what_?"

"_My body sheltered most of the debris flames from you when it hit, and thankfully Mateo was able to dig you out before you suffocated or any damage was too severe. Even if you did break your spine, several ribs, an arm, your hip, and your lungs were damaged, you also received a concussion that rendered you unconscious_." Veronique explained. "_It's a miracle you survived, even if you were put into a coma. Although I think you'll find that it was less of a miracle and more of a-_" "_But then you're_…"

"_Dead_." Veronique finished. "_Yes, I'm sorry_."

"_No, please_!" Lina gasped, hurriedly scrambling through the air towards her mother, who flinched away. "_Please, Mama, you can't be dead! Please!_"

"_Like I said, I'm sorry_." Veronique said, smiling sadly at her daughter. "_But my Love, you must learn to move on. Your life is about to change so drastically for, what I believe, is the better and you have to be ready._"

"_Change? Well of course my life is going to change! You're dead!_" Lina shouted.

"_I mean in other ways._" Veronique explained. "_Larger ways, ways bigger than you could even imagine. They're happening right now, as we speak_."

"_What? How?_" Lina gasped. "_Mama, you're not making any sense_!"

Veronique simply smiled, and stepped towards her daughter as if there was a floor under her that Lina couldn't see or feel. Raising her hands, the older of the women gently cupped the younger's cheeks and stroked her cheekbones with her thumb, wiping the remaining tears away. As soon her hand made contact with her daughter's flesh however, Veronique's image slowly started to disappear; fading away into the empty blackness that surrounded the two of them.

"_I love you Lina_." Veronique spoke quietly. "_So, so much_."

"_Wh-Mama_?" Lina stuttered, watching helplessly as her mother's image began to dissipate. "_What's happening? Where are you going? Don't leave me!_"

"_It's time to wake up, my little Butterfly_."

As Veronique pressed a final kiss to her daughter's forehead, she fully vanished into the blackness, and as soon as Lina could no longer feel her presence, the voices came back.

_Wake up_

_Are you sleeping?_

_Is that where we are?_

_It's time to wake up!_

_Are you sure this isn't death?_

_We can't die_

_But you can_

_Awaken!_

_Wake up!_

_Why aren't you awake yet?_

Lina couldn't hear herself scream. Just like she couldn't feel the hot, angry tears leak out of her eyes yet again. But she knew she was screaming, and she knew she was crying. She slammed her hands back over her ears, trying to block out the noise. It didn't do much.

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

**_Wake up!_**

With a sudden gasp of air, Lina's eyes snapped open.


	2. In Which A Decision Is Made

**Paris, France**

**April 16, 2008**

**2:46 CEST**

The hospital was just like any other; blank white walls, the smell of disinfectant, the faint beeping of a heart monitor in the distance. Signs written in French were everywhere; showing directions, giving your regular everyday health registrations, maybe the occasional motivational poster. There was one area of the hospital however, that wasn't your typical everyday sight.

Standing by a window, looking in but trying to be stealthy about it, stood three adults. One, a dark-cloaked man whose cowl showed off two points shaped like bat-ears. Second, a woman with blonde hair wearing a leather jacket, a corset, and a pair of fishnet tights. Third, a male-humanoid robot with a bright red exterior, blue and gold cape, and a gold 'T' shape on his chest. Had it not been nighttime, the three adults knew it wouldn't be safe for them where they were. But as it was nearly three in the morning, there was no danger for them in the hospital.

In the window in which they peeked, there was a young girl. Pale with freckles dusting her nose, big blue eyes, round cheeks, and long, light brown hair that fell in a messy, wavy, mess over her shoulders. She was awake, but extremely still. The only sign that she was even alive was the fact that she was sitting up on her own, her legs pulled up to her chest, and the tears that rolled down her cheeks. With her sat an older man in his mid-forties with greying brown hair, who sat in the chair beside the bed with his hand on the girl's back and a look of pained empathy on his face. There were also two boys, one older, and one younger than the girl.

The younger sat on the foot of the girl's bed, tears of his own flowing down as his hand lay on the girl's leg; and the older held a frown on his face as he leaned against the wall opposite the door, far away from the rest of the people.

"Are you sure this is the best time to do this?" The woman of the trio of adults asked. "She only just woke up and got the news."

"The sooner we do, the better." The cloaked man replied.

"She's been through so much in just a few hours though." The woman reasoned. "We could scare her off, or overwhelm her."

"The emotions she feels now for what she's done are a good motivator to learn how to avoid it in the future. And the girl is on the spectrum, I have no doubt she's used to being overwhelmed." The man in black countered.

Frustrated, the woman let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. She knew she ought to have been used to her co-worker's coldness by now, but it still amazed her at times like this.

"What's your say Red?" The blonde asked, looking up at her robotic comrade. "This is all your call, not to mention your idea."

The robot was silent for a moment, as if lost in thought, but then replied.

"Batman is correct." The red robot answered. "Raw emotions act as human's main motivators, it would be the most logical conclusion to ask now while the events of today are fresh. However, it would be foolish to go in without any thought to her emotional state. We should act thoughtfully and with care."

"Leave it to you two to act like this is some sort of battle plan." The woman muttered under her breath, but then brushed some hair out of her face before walking towards the door, leading the trio into the room. The moment the three heroes walked into the hospital room, every single one of its inhabitants looked up at them.

"Madam Canary, Monsieurs Batman and…" The older man in the room greeted, addressing the heroes but falling short on the name of the robotic individual he did not know.

"So you've finally decided to stop creepily watching from outside like stalkers?" The oldest of the children asked, his shoulders being pushed back to appear bigger.

The two men's French accents were thick, but their English was still clear.

"Calvin, watch your manners." The oldest of the family stated strictly to the boy before standing and addressing the three strangers. "I apologize for my son, he can be quite protective."

"It's no problem, Monsieur Leduc, we understand completely." The blonde woman, Canary, said. "We...understand that this can't be an easy time for any of you."

"Markus is fine, Mademoiselle Canary." The greying man said with a small smile. "And please don't worry about us, we just appreciate the help you three have shown in this...incident."

"Why are you still here?" The youngest of the boys asked, sitting so his body shielded the girl's. "She's awake and physically well, she hasn't started another storm since she awoke."

"Are you going to arrest her for something she had no control over?" The older boy asked. The girl's body curled in tighter around itself. "If you try to take her away from us, you should know our lawyer's on his way."

"We're not taking her away. But I'm glad you brought up control." Canary explained, she turned to motion to her robotic coworker. "This is Red Tornado, another member of the Justice League.

I don't believe any of you got the chance to officially meet during the debacle."

"You're...the one that flew with a tornado around your waist." The girl spoke quietly. "You helped return the winds back to their normal paths after…" her voice fell away.

"Not a very creative name." The oldest boy remarked.

"My name was given to me by my creator." Red Tornado explained, before facing the small girl.

"But yes, I hold the ability to control the air around me. Much like yourself."

"Except I can't control the Winds." The girl said, frowning. "They controlled me. I created a level 3 tornado while I was in a coma, completely unaware. Or at least...that's what everyone keeps telling me."

"For now you may have no control over your abilities, but that's why we're here." Canary said.

"Red Tornado, and the rest of us, have discussed the possibility of him taking Evangelina on as a protege." The cloaked man, Batman, said bluntly.

"Protege?" The girl and her father asked in surprise.

"I would be willing to...take her under my wing, in a sense. I could teach her how to use her new-found abilities, train her to control and use them, make sure an accident of this nature doesn't happen again." Red Tornado explained.

"And I would be happy to help with the emotional aspect." Black Canary added. "Powers are often strongly connected to emotions and mental states, and as my colleague...has some lack of experience with that aspect, it would be my pleasure to use my psychological background to assist in and way."

"So you'd be brainwashing her into becoming another one of your 'sidekicks' like we see on the news? Put her in danger and make her fight your battles for you? She's only 14!" The eldest brother protested, taking a step towards the heroes.

"Calvin." Lina called, her voice quiet in nature but it cut through the room like a dagger. Her eyes were so full of confusion and grief that just by looking at them, her family automatically were flooded with a sense of guilt and empathy. It was probably because of this that the three men let the young girl speak out.

As she turned to the heroes, she scanned all three of them carefully. As if looking for something, but nobody knew for what.

"If I were to become your protege," Lina started, "I would gain control over...all of this, right?

I wouldn't ever...do that again?"

Canary saw her cloaked colleague shoot her a sly look and she felt a strong wave of annoyance at the man.

"That is the idea." Red Tornado replied.

"From your report, you have a very different type of connection to, the Winds, as you called it.

But we'd certainly work on ensuring that you don't lose control again." Lina watched the robotic man carefully.

"You mean you'll try to make sure I don't end up creating a major natural disaster and end up causing hundreds of dollars in property damage, endangering the lives in the area, again." Lina spoke with a strict tone, full of self-loathing.

"That is the idea." Red Tornado repeated.

"You all should know that you won't have to worry about the property damage." Batman said, speaking for the first time since entering the room. "Wayne Enterprises has offered to take care of it."

"The American company? Why?" Leo asked, frowning.

He never got a response.

"You should know, before we even consider this in any way-" Markus spoke up, "-my daughter, she...has some special needs…"

"Papa!" Lina's head whipped around, her face growing pink.

"We're already aware of your...learning disability." Canary informed Lina, stepping closer to her.

At the term 'disability', the younger woman tensed and fidgeted with a strand of her hair. "But, fortunately, Wayne Enterprises has come through again."

"What do you mean? Came through how?" Lina asked.

"Wayne Enterprises has been testing a new product in their health and medicine division.

It's a type of autism medication that works to completely inhibit all symptoms and conditions for a few hours. It's experimental, but completely tested and 100% safe." Canary explained.

"You'll have to talk about it with your doctors before you are even handed a dosage, and we don't suggest using it until you're well enough, but after you've gotten the 'okay' you're going to have to speak with the head scientist about any side effects and limitations, but-""So not only are you trying to brainwash her into becoming one of your...child lackies, but you're putting experimental chemicals filled with God knows what into her body?"

Calvin's interjection was full of hostility as he stepped closer to the trio of heroes.

"We understand your concern, but we assure you-""Oh don't give me that formal, robotic, bullsh-"

"I'll do it."

The whole room froze as, once again, Lina's voice cut through the noise. She was looking at the heroes, her eyes dancing between Black Canary and the robot.

"You'll...what?" Calvin guffawed.

Lina looked up, making direct eye contact. "You say you'll teach me to control my...powers so this will never happen again? I'll do it." Lina explained. "I'm not too sure about this medicine, but I'll consider it once I get an unbiased medical professional's opinion on it. But if you seriously think that you can teach me to control the Winds, well, I don't really see a good alternative."

"Lina, mon chou-""It's my decision." Lina said strictly, the pain in her eyes morphing into determination. Once a moment had passed, Markus sat back down.

After a quick beat, Red Tornado walked up over to Lina's bed. Looking up at him, the French girl came to realize just how much bigger he was in comparison to herself. But then, the robot extended his hand. Smiling slightly, Lina took it and shook it firmly.

"I believe the proper statement to make here is 'Welcome aboard'." Red Tornado said, and Lina could have sworn she heard a happy tone in his robotic voice.

**Gotham City**

**April 16, 2008**

**16:00 EST**

As Bruce Wayne sat at his desk, the desk that practically ruled over Gotham City, he let his mind wander. This was not an unusual occurrence for him, for either of his personas. Anyone who knew either the man in the suit, or the man in the cowl, knew that if Bruce Wayne ever got a far away look in his eye then he was already on a whole other planet. This however, didn't seem to stop the twelve year old boy in his office from chatting on in front of him.

"And then, ooh, and then the best part happens. The guy comes at me, all 'oh you darn brat I'm going to kill you' and firing at will, but he completely missed me! Stormtrooper-level missed me!

So once the guy's out of bullets, which takes like five seconds by the way, I-" the boy lets out a sound effect as he backflip-kicks and then lands perfectly back into a crouching position, "-the gun out of his hand and then-"he does another flip, this time going forwards, and then does a low spin-kick, "-knock him off his feet, just like you told me Bruce! Oh my god the face me made when he fell!"

The raven-haired boy looked over at the older man behind the desk, only to notice the far away look in his eyes and the slight frown on his face. The enthusiasm in the young boy leaks out as he realizes he's been talking to himself the whole time, before he stands up straight and fixes the tie of his school uniform.

"So...how'd that mission you went on last night go?" The boy asks, slowly stepping closer to Bruce. The man finally manages to snap out of his trance and focuses in on the twelve year old. "Freak tornado in Paris, right? You were out pretty late because of it."

"Yes." Bruce hums. "It went fine."

After a long moment of silence, the boy's shoulders slag down as he realizes he's not going to get much more out of his guardian.

"I...think I'm going to go down to the cafeteria and get a snack, do you want anything?" The raven-haired boy asks as he begins to take a step towards the office door.

"Coffee please, black." Bruce grunts.

"Black." The boy chuckles. "What a surprise." But just as he's about to leave through the door, it swings open. A tall man with slicked-back hair and a white lab coat steps in, carrying a small metal box with the famous 'W' Wayne Enterprises insignia engraved on it.

"Oh, so sorry Mr. Grayson." The man said, quickly standing to the side.

"No problem." The boy shrugs, and motions for the man to pass him. The man nods and does so.

"Doctor Leon." Bruce greets, standing up and walking around the desk. "I'm assuming this is the package I asked for?"

"Yes sir." The doctor replied. "14 perfected doses of the newest updated serum."

"Good, thank you very much." Bruce replied, and lifted the lid off the box to reveal its content.

The syringes were small, sized for convenience, and full of a translucent blue liquid. As the boy strolled over, he looked high to take a peek at the box's contents. Bruce allowed this for only a moment before closing the box again.

"And you're sure this batch was the one that successfully went through human trials?" Bruce asked.

"Absolutely sir." Leon nodded. "We just ran the last tests late last night so everything was already out and ready to be copied. Every single trial has proved to be a success thus far, which is why it was marked to be put on the market this time next year."

"Yes…" Bruce hummed, looking down at the box. The far away look returned again, but this time only for a moment.

"Well, thank you again Doctor."

"Not a problem at all Mr. Wayne." Leon nodded, and then turned to walk out. "Have a good evening sir, Mr. Grayson."

The moment the door shut behind Leon, the twelve year old sighed. "Being called 'Mr. Grayson' is so...weird. I kind of wish people would just call me Dick, or even Richard." The boy quickly turned his attention back to the box in Bruce's hands. "So, what's that? Who's it for?"

"Medical Treatment Serum 219, strand 9.4, version 8." Bruce grunted. It only took Dick a moment before it clicked.

"The new autism inhibiting meds?" Dick asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you need 14 doses of it?"

"It's not for me." Bruce replied, placing the box on his desk. "And no, I'm not saying who it is for.

You'll meet them soon enough."

Dick's eyes lit up and grew twice their size.

"I'll meet them soon enough? Oh come on! Now you have to tell me!"


	3. In Which Things Don't Go As Planned

**Hall of Justice, Washington D.C.**

**July 4**

**14:00 EDT**

It really couldn't have been a more beautiful day outside. Warm, summer weather, not a cloud in the sky, the sun's golden rays warming the Earth with a small, cool breeze to cool down its inhabitants. Perfect Washington summer weather.

Or at least, that's what Lina thought as she hovered in the sky, basking in the sun's rays.

The heat of the star seeped through the sturdy but comfortable fabric of the girl's white and gold suit, spreading over her skin and melting into her like a warm hug from the universe. The winds that blew around Zephyr weren't too strong, just enough to carry the girl and cause the tendrils of curly brown hair, that were usually tucked into her hood, sway in their dance.

"_So warm today…"_ One of the small voices whispered into Zephyr's ears, and the girl smiled in agreement. She certainly didn't get this kind of sunny heat in Paris, and she had no intention of letting it go to waste.

"_Those people sure do seem excited about something."_ Another voice whispered, catching Lina's attention.

"_I wonder what they're all waiting for." _Added another.

Opening her eyes and looking down, Lina was reminded of the crowds of excited people on the land below. She couldn't make out a lot of them from her altitude, but she could just see the small flashes of cameras and the colourful specs of merchandise. Lina wasn't that surprised to see that there appeared to be quite a few more people in the crowds than when she had first flown up to her current height.

"I suppose sunbathing time is over." Lina murmured to herself, before waving her hand and signalling the winds around her to begin their descent. Being mindful of how fast she was being taken down, Lina tilted herself so she fell at an angle, allowing for more drag and more control over speed. As she got closer to the ground, she felt the air around her thicken and she let go of a few of the Winds, and pushed forward as to fly towards the tall, red, robotic man that stood on a short cliff overlooking the crowds of tourists in front of the white and gold arched building. Far away enough for the crowds not to identify them, but close enough for the robot to keep an eye on the visitors.

Once Zephyr had reached the cliff, the robot man turned to face her. Grinning, Zephyr pushed the Winds to spin her into a flip before she dismounted; landing perfectly on both feet with her hands raised above her head.

"Ta-da!" The young girl exclaimed, a large grin painted on her face. For a moment, the robot was silent but then he turned away from her, once again facing the crowds of people.

"You should bend your knees slightly more once you hit the ground, and raise your arms more once you steady yourself." The man of red metal explained. "It both provides more balance, and adds more effect."

The girl giggled slightly, floating over to beside her mentor. "The robot giving the circus-girl landing tips? Not something you see everyday, no offence Red."

Red Tornado didn't reply, as per usual. Zephyr had gotten used to the strong-and-silent type about him in the two years she'd been training under him. She actually prefered it, as it meant she had to pay attention to less. It was known that if he was saying something, it was important and shouldn't be brushed off as simple small-talk. And although it made it harder for her to read him at first, she eventually got a grasp on it.

"I got up pretty high just then, did you see? Probably about 4,000 feet I think?" Zephyr noted as she began to tuck her hair into a clump and don her hood. "Oxygen was a little thinner, but not by much. It's interesting, how the Winds don't really get quieter the less there are of them."

Once again, no reply. But Zephyr knew he had heard and listened to her.

Zephyr looked around, just realizing that they were the only two on the cliff. She had been up in the sky for probably 15 minutes, and even though she knew that their companions would be late; she thought they would have arrived by then. She voiced these thoughts to her mentor.

"It would appear that they're more caught up in their battles than initially thought." Red Tornado said nonchalantly. Zephyr hummed for a moment, fiddling with a stand of hair that fell out from her hood.

"It's strange, yes? Four ice villains attacking different Justice League members and their proteges, in differing states, at the same time? And on today for that matter?" Zephyr asked, looking up towards her mentor and then back out towards the sea of people. "I mean, today is _the_ day."

"It is an odd coincidence, yes."

"A coincidence?" Zephyr asked. "_Êtes-vous certain?"_

"You think there's something bigger at play?" The somewhat high-pitched voice came from right behind the air-manipulating duo, and Zephyr whipped around to see two familiar figures. A tall man shrouded in a dark cloak with built-in point-shaped ears, and a small boy in a red and black costume wearing a domino mask.

Robin, to Zephyr, didn't look much different from any other 14 year old boy she had met. Tallish for his age, skinny limbs, tousled hair and a mischievous smile. He carried himself with a sort of sly confidence, shoulders back and head up.

"Robin!" Zephyr exclaimed as she stepped forward to greet the young boy. Pulling the young boy into a quick hug, Zephyr wasn't surprised to find that he had grown a couple inches since they had last seen each other. "About time you got here! I haven't seen you in so long, the Riddler's tornado-machine-thing incident last spring, _non_?"

"Sounds about right, good times." Robin cracked an uneven smile as Zephyr stepped back. "But seriously Zeph', do you think it was something else? Because I have a couple theories going and-""Why don't we focus on one thing at a time." Zephyr interrupted, knowing she could never keep up whenever the Boy Wonder rambled on about his 'theories'. "Did you get Mr. Freeze squared away?"

"In holding, the Gotham Police and Arkham are just starting on the paperwork." Batman explained, more to Red Tornado than Zephyr. Upon hearing the infamous Dark Knight, Zephyr tensed up and avoided eye contact with him, not that he would spare her a passing glance.

"Oh, that's good then." Zephyr said, more of a mutter than anything.

Thankfully, the slight tension was cut off by another duo dropping onto the cliff.

"Hey, sorry we're late." Green Arrow greeted, holstering his bow. "Junior put up a little bit of a fight while the cops took him away."

"Roy!" Zephyr exclaimed, rushing over to the red-clad boy to hug him as well. The redhead smiled and returned the hug for a moment before she pulled away. "Oh, sorry, I mean...Speedy! You're here!"

"Hello to you too Kiddo." The boy said, the smile still on his lips as he delivered a small, friendly punch to Zephyr's forearm. "I swear, if my secret identity ever gets leaked it's going to be because of you."

"I said sorry!" Zephyr smirked, placing her hands on her hips.

Speedy was tall, at least compared to Zephyr who was a whole head and a half shorter than him. Dark red hair peeked out under his Robin Hood-esk hat, which his red and yellow uniform matched with. Chiseled features and a face that made you think he was angry 24/7 (especially with his mask on), he had a general "stay away" vibe to him, despite the colourful costume.

"I'm glad he's being nice to you at least, Kid." Green Arrow cut in, a small smile on his face as he stepped over to stand with his adult colleague. Unlike his protege, Green Arrow's disposition was much sunnier, welcoming, and kind. Almost like that fun Uncle everyone likes at family gatherings. This, paired with his golden hair and green uniform made him a full contrast to his ward.

"The whole fight with Junior and the way here he wouldn't stop complaining about the fight 'interfering' and us being late for '_the_ day'.¨

Speedy gave his mentor a quick glare, and Zephyr couldn't help but let out a small giggle. The two of them always acted like this, their whole goofy-father-rebellious-son shtick. But those who knew the Star City duo knew that Speedy cared more for his mentor than he made it look.

¨Hey, all of us are late. No big.¨ Robin said, stepping towards Speedy and Zephyr. He motioned to the crowds of people, ¨They don't seem to mind.¨

¨Fair enough, Boy Wonder." Speedy smirked down at the boy. ¨How you doing Rob´?¨

The raven-haired boy shrugged, but returned the slight smile. ¨You know, same old. Kicking ass and taking names, the usual.¨

¨That's what I like to hear.¨ Speedy said, and the two boys fist-bumped.

"Dinah sends her love, as usual." Green Arrow explained to Zephyr. "She wishes she could be here."

Zephyr shrugged, but smiled at the blonde archer nonetheless. "_C'est la vie_, GA. Can't have the public wondering why she's here when she doesn't have her own protege, _Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard._"

Green Arrow continued to smile, but looked mildly confused. "I'm...just going to pretend I know what that last part means."

"Is there any news from anyone else?" Speedy asked the adults.

"Knowing Flash and Kid, they're going to be the last ones here." Robin laughed. "You know how that superspeed affects punctuality."

"Last we heard, Aquaman and Aqualad were still fighting Killer Frost in Pearl Harbor." Green Arrow explained.

"Keyword being 'were'." The gruff voice of Aquaman was heard and everyone turned to see him and his protege, Aqualad, walking over to the cliff's edge. Aquaman carried himself with a strong dignity, which made sense since he was the literal King of Atlantis. Golden blonde hair and beard, a kind but strong aura, and the traditional orange and green uniform from his country that shined in the summer sun. His protege moved as confidently as his King, but with much more of a smile as he approached his comrades. Aqualad's dark skin and even darker uniform contrasted with his light blonde hair, but in a way that somehow managed to bring out his strong and sharp features.

"About time you got here." Speedy smirked as Aqualad joined the gathering of teenagers. The two clasped each other's hands in a pseudo-handshake.

"Apologies." The young Atlantean replied, nodding his head to the others. "We would have made it here sooner but the nearest Zeta-Tube was a ways away."

"It's seriously fine. Red Tornado and I were the only ones that were here on time, and we're still waiting for the Flashes." Zephyr explained. As Aqualad turning to look at her, the two of them made eye-contact and the Atlantean knowingly smiled and opened one of his arms. Smiling, Zephyr floated over and happily took the brief hug.

"Oh I see how it is." Speedy said, causing is two friends to look over at him, slightly pulling apart to do so. "You have no problem yelling out my secret ID for the world to hear, but with Kaldur, nada! Fine, I see where the loyalties lie."

"Oh _calme-toi_, _Speedy_!" Zephyr stuck out her tongue, fully pulling away from Aqualad to face her archer friend. Robin and Aqualad just chuckled, amused by the two's teasing.

"Did Killer Frost give you any trouble?" Robin asked, changing the subject.

"Not at all. Although I am a little concerned over her...motivations." Aqualad admitted. "It was said that _four_ ice-powered villains made an attack today?"

Before any of the teens could respond, Batman cut in.

"Today's attacks are a League priority." The Gotham Knight growled.

"Don't worry about them, especially not now." Green Arrow added, becoming the proteges over. As directed, the young heroes stepped forward and took their places by their respective mentors, looking out to the giant hall in front of them.

"Today is the day." Batman said, in a tone that almost sounded nostalgic.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice." Green Arrow grinned.

"Headquarters of the Justice League." Aquaman added.

"And where the future of your career awaits." Red Tornado finished.

"_I wonder if they rehearsed that…"_ A small voice whispered in Zephyr's ear, causing her to hold back a small giggle.

"Aw man!" The voice of a speedster everyone knew suddenly exclaimed from behind the group, and the heroes turned to see a tall man in a red suit, and a much younger teen boy in a contrasting yellow suit screeching to a sliding halt as the encountered the group. "I knew we'd be the last one's here!"

"Does super-tardiness just come with being a speedster? Cause I'm starting to think it's a serious side-effect that should be looked into." Robin smirked at the boy in yellow, causing the latter to glare at his domino-masked friend.

"You can blame Flash, he decided to take his time chatting with Cold." The young speedster explained. The boy's hair was in its usual wind-swept manner, a product of his super-speed, and his bright green eyes that could almost be seen from a mile away were full of annoyance and, as the other teens could easily read, a sense of embarrassment. "Even though I _warned_ him…"

"Nearly all of us were late, Kid Flash." Aqualad assured, offering a small smile in greeting.

"Yes, _c'est la vie_." Zephyr added.

"Well, I guess that's not _as_ bad then." The red-haired speedster sighed in relief before giving his fellow teens an uneven smile.

"_It's the ones that can disrupt us with just their bodies."_ A stern voice muttered, catching Zephyr's attention. "_So impatient, the younger one lacks appreciation for his gifts."_

Rolling her eyes, Zephyr waved her hand to blow the Wind away.

"So...now that we're all here..?" Speedy said, eyes darting to the building like a child on Christmas morning.

"We should get going." Batman agreed, and without another word; he started making his way down the side of the cliff towards the sea of people.

Robin quickly turned to face his comrades, a huge toothy grin stretching his face, before running forward to join his mentor. The rest of the duos were quick to follow suit, making their way to the crowds of people waiting for a peek of the famous heroes.

This enthusiasm only seemed to grow to a roaring storm as the ten individuals walked into the reserved path marked by railing barricards. Flashes from cameras and loud, overwhelming levels of cheering encased the heroes like a tunnel of attention and Zephyr found herself tensing her muscles, despite forcing a smile on her face. Fortunately, the feeling of a familiar metal hand touching her shoulder divided her attention and the girl looked up at her robotic mentor.

"Remain calm Zephyr." The monotone voice spoke quietly as to not be heard by anyone else. "You have earned this praise and attention, ease your breathing and embrace it for the short while."

Her muscles relaxing, Zephyr's smile became much more genuine as she nodded. Looking back out to the fans, she waved her hand in greeting, scanning over the excited faces within the frenzy.

"Is that Batman?" A voice spoke over the excitement.

"I see Flash and Flash Jr!" Another spoke. Looking over to their ginger friend, the other teens were slightly amused to see Kid Flash looking mildly put out.

"His name's Speedy, duh!" Another tourist corrected.

"No, Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick." Yet another shouted.

"Well that makes no sense." The initial voice exclaimed.

Robin let out a somewhat loud snort in laughter, only to be elbowed by the speedster in yellow.

"Bite me, Boy Blunder." Kid Flash hissed.

As Zephyr's eyes scanned the crowd, she quickly became aware of a recurring theme: the Justice League member paraphernalia. T-shirts with the logos of certain members, a few people with brightly coloured posters, children wearing small versions of heroes costumes. There was so much that Zephyr began to wonder where such things were made and sold.

However, one in particular caught her eye and she was quick to reach over and tap Aqualad's shoulder, nodding her head in the direction of a small toddler in their parents' arms. The small boy was wearing a familiar-looking red shirt, black pants, a silver alpha-symbol-esk A belt, and dark details to complete the look of Atlantean armour. Just like Aqualad's uniform.

"You've got a fan." Zephyr muttered, and Aqualad responded by grinning and waving to the boy. The parents smiled and gently waved the toddler's hand back.

Not a moment later, Aqualad made eye-contact with Zephyr and nodded in the opposite direction, whispering "Looks like I'm not the only one".

Right near the front, a young girl-maybe 4 or 5-was standing, waving at Zephyr. What made Zephyr's heart melt a little, however, was the fact that around her neck hung a gold chair with a encircled 'Z' as a charm. The same gold, encircled 'Z' that was attached to the left side of Zephyr's short, hooded-caped, fleece. Upon seeing that Zephyr was looking at her, the young girl grinned and grabbed the necklace to show the young hero. Smiling with a warm heart, Zephyr blew a kiss to the young girl who proceeded to grin up at her mother beside her, the girl's face so happy that it made Zephyr want to run up and hug the small child.

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow asked, leaning over to speak to his protege.

"Born that way." The younger archer replied, a small grin pulling at his lips.

"I am glad we're all here." Aqualad remarked, grabbing everyone's attention away from the crowds.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked excitedly.

"_Don't_ call us sidekicks, not after today."

Speedy's angry interjection caught everyone in the small group by surprise, causing both the adults and the teens to look at him in a mix of concern and curiosity.

"Sorry," Kid Flash replied after a quick moment, suddenly much more sheepish, "first time at the Hall, I'm a little overwhelmed."

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anybody just _whelmed_?" Robin exclaimed as the group finally crossed the threshold of the white and gold building.

The arches reached high above them as they entered into a large, grand open lobby that felt like, to the teens, they had just stepped into a new, gigantic world. The room had a blue tint to it that made it seem like it was entirely made of metal and plain marble. The only pieces of decor or furnishing in the room visible from the front entrance were seven, enormous, bronze statues of the founding members; Aquaman, Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. The statues had to have stood at three stories tall at least, and the teenagers suddenly felt much smaller than before.

"Oh." Robin said, almost under his breath as he stared, wide-eyed at the statues. "Maybe that's why…"

The proteges' gaping was cut short as double doors under the statues opened up to reveal a tall figure walking out from them. The individual's green skin set him apart from the other present Justice League members, making it clear from the start that he wasn't of this word. His chiseled features and serious looking appearance had a way of commanding respect, even if his black, blue, and red uniform wasn't exactly the most intimidating.

"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Zephyr, Kid Flash: welcome." Martian Manhunter greeted in his deep-sounding voice.

"This is it," Zephyr thought to herself as the butterflies started flapping in her stomach, "this is the big, crowning moment."

As Martian Manhunter turned to head back through the doors he just entered from, everyone promptly followed behind. Robin and Kid Flash bumped fists before rushing on ahead, the older teens following on their ankles.

"You now have unlimited access to our gym, fully-stocked gallery, and of course…" As the group stepped into the next room, they found themselves in a large, carpeted area lined with bookshelves. There was a seating area on one side, and a handful of wooden tables with computers, work supplies, and the like on the other. On the opposite end of the room was a giant computer that looked down at the people below. There was also a heavy metal door beside it which stood out against the casual decor. "...our library."

"Make yourselves at home." Flash explained as the older heroes made their way over to the far side of the room, by the large computer and the metal doors. Kid Flash and Robin wasted no time running over to claim some of the leather chairs for themselves, and Aqualad and Zephyr quickly followed suit. As there was only one seat left, the Atlantean turned to offer it to Zephyr, but she quickly declined in order to sit on the arm of the seat, letting him take the seat itself.

"Is this okay?" Zephyr asked, offering a small smile as she pulled her hood off. Aqualad smiled back, chuckling softly as he took the now-shared seat.

"Of course."

Zephyr looked over to Speedy, who was left standing. But he didn't seem interested in his lack of seating areas, as he simply glared at the Justice League members with tense shoulders and a slight frown.

"Roy?" Zephyr muttered, reaching out to touch his arm and get his attention. But before she could, the sound of Batman's voice sounded through the room.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day." The man in black explained. "We shouldn't be long."

As a computerized voice began to read off the Leaguer's names and designations, Zephyr couldn't help but let a thought cloud her mind.

_So Batman doesn't think it was a coincidence either?_

"That's it?"

Speedy's angry voice rung through the library, once again catching everybody off-guard. As everyone whirled around to look at the angry red-head, they could see that his tense and stern body language was even more pronounced, more so than nearly anyone present in the room had ever seen from him.

"You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass!" Speedy continued.

"It's a first step." Aquaman explained calmly. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh really?" The archer seemed to only be spurred on by the Atlantean king's calm as he gestured up to a large window the other teens hadn't noticed when they came in. More members of the public were watching from behind the clear glass, like the heroes were animals at a zoo. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy, you just need to be patient." Green Arrow tried to calm his protege, but it was obvious to everyone that Speedy's anger was making him nervous.

"What I 'need' is _respect_!" Speedy said, taking a couple strides towards the adults before waiting a beat and whipping around to address the teens. At the angry gaze suddenly being turned onto them, the four younger youths tensed up, all mentally preparing to be faced with the fury that was Roy Harper.

"They're treating us like kids! Worse; like _sidekicks_." Speedy growled like an angry cat, spitting out the last word like it was sour. "We deserve better than this."

Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Zephyr all glanced at each other, non-verbally confirming that they had no personal qualms with the way today had played out leading up to this point. They looked back at their comrade, all with a certain feeling of anxiety and confusion in their gaze.

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy asked in a monotone voice, dumbfounded at his peers lack of infuriation. "You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be _the_ day. Step one to becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

"Well, sure." Kid Flash said hesitantly. "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's _real_ HQ!"

The room went still as every Justice League members' expressions turned to one of panic and shock. The four seated adolescents all straightened up, brows furrowed as their eyes now became fixated on their rebelling friend. Kid Flash's jaw even dropped, eyes widened in pure and unfiltered surprise.

"I bet they never even told you. It's just a false front for tourists, and a pit-stop for catching Zeta beam tubes to the real thing; an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Batman's icy cold glare could be felt throughout the library, contrasted only by the burning gazes of the confused teenagers. Green Arrow turned around to look back at the cloaked leader of the Justice League, a sheepish smile on his lips.

"I know, I know. But I thought _maybe_ we could make an exception?" As the white slits of Batman's eyes narrowed, the archer received his silent answer. "Or not…"

Meanwhile, Aquaman decided to step in as the only adult willing to try and tame in the hot-headed redhead, stepping towards Speedy with a slight frown between his brows. "You are not helping your case here son. Stand down or-""Or what? You'll send me to my room?"

Speedy's voice was growing more and more venomous as the discussion unfolded, and Zephyr stored away some of her confusion just long enough to move and try calming down her friend, but she was stopped by a webbed hand grasping her arm gently, but firmly. Looking down at Aqualad, he shook his head slightly at Zephyr who understood, and promptly sat back down.

"And I'm not your son, I'm not even his!" Speedy continued, practically spitting at his mentor who he now glared at. "I thought I was his partner…"

"_Oh no…"_

"But not anymore."

As if in slow motion, the yellow Robin Hood hat was ripped off it's perch by its owner and thrown onto the ground at the adult's feet. Without even waiting a moment to stop and bask in his actions, Speedy turned on his heel and began walking away, straight through the seating area where his colleagues now stood at attention, towards the door the group had entered through.

"Guess they're right about you four." Speedy hissed at the shocked teenagers. "You're not ready."

As the doors closed behind him, the room was plunged into a thick and heavy silence. Not a single person spoke, both due to the fact that there simply wasn't anything anyone could say after a bombshell like that, and because nobody _wanted_ to even try. The mentors, save for Green Arrow who stared at the door his ward had just walked out of, were silently watching the other proteges, alert as if preparing for any one of them to throw in their chips with the sudden revolution. The teenagers however, did no such thing as they stayed perfectly still. Aqualad and Zephyr joining Green Arrow by staring at the door, as if waiting for their friend to walk back in; Kid Flash staring down at his feet in thought, his mind racing at a speed so fast his feet would be envious; and Robin, staring right back at his mentor with an expression that couldn't be read through his mask.

Thankfully for everyone, the silence was broken after a couple moments by the giant monitor beside them coming to life. The initial beeping sound from the machine caught everyone's attention, only to be followed by the image of Superman coming up on the screen. The hero in blue could only be seen from the chest-up but he looked the same as any of the young heroes had always seen him: strong, cheery features, and not a hair out of place.

"Superman to Justice League. There's been a small explosion at Project Cadmus, it's on fire." America's favorite 'Blue Boy Scout' explained.

"_The famous and all-powerful Justice League being called in for a mere fire?" _A voice whispered into Zephyr's ear. "_Please, we could take care of something like that ourselves. Fire is a weak element, so temperamental and childlike."_

Zephyr rolled her eyes at the voice, but didn't bother waving it away.

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus." Batman spoke, turning to speak to the other leaguers. "This could present the perfect opportunity to-""Zatara to Justice League."

Batman was cut off by another man's image coming up onto the screen, the aged and mustached face of Zatara the master magician: top hat and all. He looked slightly unnerved, his voice giving an air of panic as his image grew to take over the screen, sliding Superman to the bottom corner.

"The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet if Atan to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response." The magician explained.

"Superman?" Batman asked, looking to his co-leader for confirmation.

"It's a small fire; local authorities have it under control."

"_See what I mean? Fire is so weak, even a group of weak humans can control it! Pathetic, truely. Why even bother such noble heroes with such a simple task?" _The same voice whispered, and although she was amused by the judgement of elements, Zephyr waved the Wind away to focus on the matter at hand.

"Then Cadmus can wait. All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out." Batman clicked the screen off as the young heroes stepped forward, ready for action

"Stay put." The cloaked man said quickly before any of the teenagers could say or do anything.

"What? Why?" Robin exclaimed as he and his comrades grew a look of annoyance and betrayal.

"This is a League mission." Aquaman explained sternly. After the sudden outburst, none of the adults were going to risk anything with leaving room for debate.

"You're not trained." Flash added.

"Since when?" The speedster protege barked back.

"I meant you're not trained to work as a part of _this_ team." Flash expanded, gesturing to Batman, Aquaman, and himself.

Zephyr turned her gaze to look at her mentor, only to see him entering the zeta-tube; not even looking back at his supposed partner.

"_Je n'y crois pas." _The girl muttered under her breath, tearing her angry gaze back to the three men in front of her.

"There will be other missions, when you're ready." Aquaman explained.

Each of the teens frowned at this, reminded of Speedy's final message.

"_Guess they're right about you four. You're not ready."_

"But for now, _stay put_." Batman narrowed his eyes at the teenagers, casting an extra look to his own protege.

And with that, they were gone. Leaving through the zeta-beam tubes and leaving their young counterparts alone in the library.

It only took a moment for one of them to crack.

"When we're ready? How are we ever going to be ready when they treat us like…like…like _sidekicks!_" Kid Flash faltered, anger building in his muscles as he began to whip around aimlessly.

Aqualad looked down at the ground below him, eyebrows furrowed and a stern look across his features. "My mentor, my King...I thought he trusted me." Zephyr, who still stood next to him, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"_Trust_?" Kid Flash spat. "They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ! In _space!_"

"It makes one wonder…" Zephyr hummed, frowned slightly and dropping her hand as her thoughts unfolded, "if there's more they are not telling us."

"I've got a better question." Robin interjected, rolling his shoulders as he looked up. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

A heavy silence fell over the group and each of the young heroes felt their bodies close into themselves as thoughts and tension ran rampant within all of them.

The weight connected to the back of Zephyr's suit, formed perfectly to her body as to make the hidden compartment nearly invisible, suddenly felt much heavier as she was reminded of the steel blade that lay within it. The silver blade that Roy had specifically made for her after they befriended each other, made up of old refurbished arrowheads.

And what of Red Tornado's apparent lies? Sure, having a robot for a mentor meant that certain things were lost in translation and communication, it was something Zephyr and he both had to deal with in their own ways. But this was different, he deliberately hid something from her. Not only that, but he lead her to believe that this, _today_, was special when there was much bigger things at play. He didn't just leave something out that he believed not to be important, he lied. Plain and simple. And what about Dinah? She was just as guilty here, and she wasn't even present to see the byproduct.

It was Aqualad who finally broke the silence, his melancholy twisting into curiosity. "What is...Project Cadmus?"

"Don't know," Robin muttered, the same curiosity filling him, "but I can find out."

The Boy Wonder sauntered over to the huge computer and his comrades could only watch as his fingers began to move over the keys.

"**Access denied**." The computer spoke.

"Wanna bet?" Robin laughed, embracing the challenge as he began to pick up his pace. His gloved fingers began dancing on the keyboard at what only appeared as inhuman speed, strings of code and other things most of the other teenagers couldn't understand or decipher popped up and danced along the screen.

"Woah." Zephyr muttered in awe.

"Woah's right." Kid Flash gawked, stepping closer to his best friend. "How are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave." Robin explained slyly, as if that explained everything.

"**Access granted**."

"Alright, Project Cadmus…" Robin began as he scanned through the newly available computer files. "A genetics lab here in D.C., that's all there is. But if Batman's suspicious…." his face contorted into one of pure mischief "maybe we should investigate."

"Oh, I see where this is going…" Zephyr thought.

"Solve their case before they do." Aqualad smiled, mulling the thought over and over in his head. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey," Robin chuckled, "they're all about justice."

"_Finally, a mission without that...unfeeling, unnatural thing holding us back!_" One voice said, slimy-sounding in nature.

"_But is it safe?" _Another asked.

"_Why should we even go, or even consider going?" _Added one more.

"Who's making me go on a Zephyr mission if not my mentor? What is my motivation here?" Zephyr mentally added for herself. "And would we even be able to do the mission successfully on our own? Would we just end up making things worse?"

Aqualad sighed, his smile faltering. "But they said stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this." Robin rebutted.

Kid Flash snapped to attention, gazing excitedly at Robin. "Wait, are you going? Cause if you're going, I'm going."

The two younger boys turned, grinning up at Zephyr and Aqualad as if they were children begging their parents to buy them a treat. Aqualad and Zephyr looked over at each other, meeting eyes. In that moment, both of them wished they could read each other's mind and discuss the turn of events privately and calmly. After a moment however, Zephyr sighed in self-defeat and pulled her hood back on.

"_Oh tant pis."_

"I agree if you do Kal."

And with that, the initial look of piqued interest and excitement filled the Atlantean's grey-green eyes. Although sparks of uncertainty still pooled in the same depths.

"So just like that? We're a team on a mission?" The Atlantean asked.

"We didn't come for a play-date." Robin smirked.

That was all the convincing he needed.


	4. In Which They Go Down The Rabbit Hole

A/N: So this is all I got for today! I'm hoping to keep my posting schedule to weekly (sometime on Sunday, maybe late Monday) but we'll see how long that holds up.

**Project Cadmus**

**July 4**

**15:10**

To absolutely nobody's surprise, Robin had wanted to get to Cadmus via Batmobile. But as none of them could legally drive and nobody trusted the 14 year old boy to handle a sports car packed with more ammunition than a tank; it was quickly decided they'd get to the genetics lab on foot. With Kid Flash running on the ground, Robin and Aqualad using the tops of buildings, and Zephyr flying alongside the latter two.

The first thing any of them noticed were the sirens. A small team of firemen with a single truck were attempting to put out the fire raging through the windows of both of the building's stories. From the second story, two men in white lab coats were waving out a window at the firemen. However, just as the heroes pulled up to the building, an explosion threw the two men out, and sent them tumbling towards the ground.

Kid Flash, the first to arrive due to his speed, took off like a bullet towards the fire. Running up the concrete side, catching the scientists, and throwing them to safety at the top of the building. Unfortunately for the speedster however, he lost his footing at the final step and had to grab onto a window ledge to keep himself from falling to the ground.

"It's whatshisname...Flash Boy!" One of the firemen exclaimed.

"_Kid! Flash_!" The ginger yelled back.

"So smooth." Robin chuckled as the remaining three heroes arrived at the scene.

"Does he always have to run ahead?" Aqualad grumbled. "We need a plan, we-"

Aqualad was cut off by seeing that, while he and Zephyr were looking away, Robin had disappeared from their side.

"I forgot he does that…" Zephyr sighed, as she and Aqualad looked around for the boy. Not a second later, the sound of Robin's high-pitched laughter echoed through the air and the two older teens looked to see him hopping from the top of the fire truck to the building, grappling through the window and grabbing Kid Flash on his way in.

"How much weight can you carry?" Aqualad asked Zephyr after taking a moment to sigh in irritation. Simply smiling in response, Zephyr circled her hands outwards; gathering the necessary Winds before moving her hands outwards again as to surround both herself and her partner.

"You may want to hold on." The French girl said, and Aqualad promptly grasped her shoulders as they took off. As the pair flew, Zephyr kept her arms moving in circular motions and kept them balanced as they made their way up to the top of the building. As they approached the two scientists, Zephyr gathered more Winds, straining to keep them all together in the process.

"I'm going to float you two down gently, okay? Please remain as still as possible." Zephyr explained as she used one hand to guide her new Winds around the men and carry them down, and the other hand to keep her and Aqualad afloat. Once the two men made contact with the ground, the Winds brought the two teenagers down to the window their partners had entered through.

"Well that answers your question." Zephyr sighed as she clenched and unclenched her fists to rid them of any residual tension. She looked over at Aqualad. "You good?"

"Yes, thank you." The Atlantean nodded and released her shoulder.

Zephyr nodded back with a small smile and the two of them jumped down from the window ledge and into the room connected to it.

"_The weight of four, that's a little much don't you think_?" A voice hissed bitterly into Zephyr's ear. Other voices, some raging in anger, made themselves heard but their manipulator blocked them out and waved them away.

"Appreciate the help." Aqualad said bitterly as they met with their younger partners, Robin going through files on a computer and Kid Flash shuffling through a filing cabinet.

"You two handled it." Robin handwaved. "Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

Aqualad and Zephyr shared a look before the two of them made their way to the hallway, which was surprisingly peaceful for a burning building. Dark and silent, but peaceful in its own way. As the two of them scanned the corridor, the sound of a chime caught their attention and they turned to see an elevator closing its doors…

With a skinny, humanoid silhouette inside with two, long horn-things sticking out the top of it's head.

Alerted by the sound, Kid Flash and Robin ran out to the corridor.

"There was something in the-""Elevator's should be locked down." Kid Flash cut Aqualad off.

"Emphasis on the '_should_'..." Zephyr hummed.

Robin ran forward to the elevator, scanning it for a moment with a frown on his face.

"This is wrong." The Boy Wonder said, pulling out his holo-computer. He pulled up a new file and typed for a moment. "Thought so, this is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong on a two-story building."

"Neither does what we saw." Aqualad replied. Walking forward, the Atlantean grasped onto the crack between doors and with his enhanced strength, pried them apart. As the entire team took a look down the elevator shoot, they were surprised to find that it went way, way down. Like a bottomless pit of metal and wires.

"And that's why they need an express elevator." Robin quipped, taking out his grappling hook and firing it to the top of the vertical tunnel. As the 14 year old boy began his descent down, the other three turned to make eye contact with one another.

"I believe the expression is 'down the rabbit hole'?" Zephyr shrugged, giving the two boys a small smile before beginning her flight down. Behind her, she could hear the sounds of her two pseudo-teammates zipping down Robin's grappling chord. It didn't take long for Zephyr to catch up with Robin, deciding to slow down to stay neck-and-neck with the young boy.

"So…" Zephyr hummed, looking at the passing giant floor-numbers. "How long is that rope?"

Not a moment later the boy slowed down to a stop at sub-level 26.

"That long, apparently." He shrugged, and swung to jump onto the small ledge by the floor's door. Soon being joined by Aqualad and Kid Flash, each of the boys collected on the small ledge; Kid Flash needing to be steadied by Aqualad as he lost his footing mid-jump.

Promptly, Robin bypassed the security and signalled Aqualad to pry the doors open. After each of the teens were able to access the hallway, each one of them became very aware of how different this hallway was to the one they had seen upstairs. The one they were currently standing in was more metallic and seemed darker, even with the red-tinted lighting. It almost felt like they had been transported into an underground bunker of sorts.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus…" Robin muttered, and the four youths began to scan through their surroundings. Kid Flash, however, sped off without another word; dashing through the connecting corridors before anyone could stop him.

"Kid, wait!" Aqualad called out, but it was of no use. The ginger speedster had already ran down the hall, beyond the other three's reach. Running after their friend, Robin, Aqualad, and Zephyr soon found that the hallway intersected with a larger hall, one that Kid had obviously tried to get to before it was blocked off.

Blocked off by what one may ask? Why a procession of mammoth-sized creatures with tough grey skin, red eyes, and tusks, of course.

As the heroes froze at the sight of the new and terrifying creatures, all of them (even Kid Flash who had found himself almost being squished by one of the creatures before rolling out of the way) found themselves speechless as their eyes grew to the size of saucers; all save for Aqualad who mumbled a sarcastic "No...nothing odd going on here…"

The creatures truly did seem like mammoths in a way, mammoths with the thick, leathery skin of a rhino, only decorated by symbols that almost looked like tribal markings. Upon closer inspection, and once the teens took note of how they walked, on all fours with their weight towards the front, leaning on the knuckles of their finger-type appendages, a sort of giant ape semblance came about them. The tusks attached to their jaws were only paired with the spikes that sat on their shoulders, and the jagged shark-like teeth their open mouths revealed. On top of the giant creatures sat much smaller ones, small enough to lay in a person's arms like a cat. The smaller ones bore the same skin as their larger counterparts with the same symbol-esk patterns, but their tusks were much shorter, hardly even there at all, while their eyes were much bigger and small horns poked out of their heads.

Once all the creatures had passed and vanished down the hallway, hardly even sparing the teenage heroes a passing glance whilst they did so, the team of four walked through and over to a set of doors on the opposite end. After Robin hacked the doors open, the group entered only to find themselves even more confused.

"Okay, I am...officially whelmed."

Everyone felt inclined to agree, as they peered around at the room. The chamber was full, floor to ceiling, with electric blue canisters that contained insect-like creatures who gave off what appeared to be small sparks of lightning. There wasn't any light fixtures in the room, but the room was bright nonetheless with the power the creatures were giving off.

"What...is this?" Zephyr found herself asking aloud in sheer shock.

"This is how they must hide this giant underground facility from the world." Kid Flash explained, scanning the room. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid, it generates its own power with these...things. Must be what they're bred for."

"Even the name is a clue." Aqualad said. "The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the Earth."

"And this Cadmus creates new life too." Robin walked over to plug his holo-watch into a nearby computer. "Let's find out why."

It only took a moment for Robin to work his magic, hacking into the system and pulling up the files he was looking for.

"They call them Genomorphs." The Boy Wonder explained. "Woah! Look at the stats on these things; super strength, telepathy, razor claws...These are living _weapons_!"

Zephyr looked around at the creatures, walking closer to a wall of them to get a better look. They were so still, they could have easily been mistaken for inanimate objects instead of living, breathing creatures. The girl wondered if they knew of their situation, of their apparent enslavement.

"Their engineering an army, but for who?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Is anyone especially disturbed that they're creating living beings just to force them into labour?" Zephyr asked her comrades.

"Well hopefully this'll help _turb_ you Zeph', there's something else: Project Kr." The youngest of the group began furiously typing, his body growing more and more tense as his fingers danced on his holographic keys. "Wait, it's triple encrypted. I can't…"

Robin's frustrated growling was interrupted by a low voice, yelling at the group of teenagers to freeze. Whirling around, the four saw a male figure standing in front of them, accompanied by more Genomorphs. These ones were only a little larger than the ones that were atop the mammoths, and acted almost like cats combined with some kind of goblins, with more human-esk arm movements that screamed 'predatorial'. The man wore a blue and black plated hero uniform, and a gold helmet that covered his head and face. The similar features to a certain hotheaded archer immediately struck Zephyr and Aqualad and the two of them exchanged looks, confirming to one another that they indeed knew who this man was.

"Wait...Robin, Aqualad, Zephyr, Kid Flash?" The man asked, surprised.

"At least he got your name right." Robin chuckled, causing a nasty look to be thrown at him by his ginger best friend.

"I know you." Aqualad stated. "Guardian, a hero."

Zephyr was amused at the Atlantean's ability to pretend the man was just your run-of-the-mill hero, and not the uncle of their best friend.

"I do my best." Guardian explained offhandedly as he continued to scan over the group.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash questioned.

"I'm chief of security, and you're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League and figure this out."

"Do you really believe the League will approve of all this?" Zephyr asked the man, motioning to the canisters. "Of Cadmus breeding weapons?"

"Weapons? What are you…my head..." Guardian's speech suddenly slowed as his emotions turned to one of clouded confusion. The teenagers noticed the small Genomorph's-the kind that had been on the back of the larger ones in the procession-horns were glowing an eerie red. Guardian winced in pain, lifting his hand to touch his helmet-covered head, before suddenly straightening up with a look of rage.

"Take them down hard! No mercy!"

The sudden onslaught of Genomorphs shocked the young heroes, Robin seeming to be the only one prepared as he ran to the front, threw down a smoke bomb, and grappled away.

Initially not wanting to hurt the creatures, Zephyr took a defensive approach and resorted to simply using a few smaller Winds to form a current around herself to keep the creatures away. But when they started pushing through, she was forced to use more strength and quickly moved her arm in a semi-circle around her, drawing what Winds she could, transferring them to the other arm, and then shooting the Winds out towards the nearing Genomorphs. Her long air-strike managed to get rid of a fair amount of thea attacking creatures, but as more neared her Zephyr grabbed onto the smoke around them and launched them away from her.

Before Zephyr or any of the Genomorphs moved again, the wind manipulator felt something strong altering the Wind patterns behind her. The feeling was soon followed by the female hero getting swept off her feet and carried at top speeds. Out of fear and confusion, Zephyr began clinging onto the thing carrying her.

Once they had escaped the smoke-filled room, Zephyr looked to see that it was a familiar redheaded speedster who's arms she was in, being carried bridal-style.

"You are seriously _tiny_ dude." Kid Flash exclaimed. "Do you even eat?"

"Yes yes, shut up." Zephyr sighed, but didn't move to try and escape the speedster's arms. "Thanks for the quick escape."

"Not a problem Madam." The speedster winked in reply.

As the duo pulled into the hallway with the elevator, Aqualad not far behind them, they were met with the sight of Robin crouched down in front of said elevator. Kid Flash slid to a stop and put Zephyr down. While the ginger focused on his crouching best friend, the girl turned to focus on the corridor; awaiting Aqualad to join the group.

"Way to be a team-player, _Rob_." Kid Flash glared.

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin replied, his signature mischievous smirk lacing into his voice.

As the Boy Wonder opened the elevator doors, the trio ran in just in time for Aqualad to turn the corner...quickly followed by a swarm of Genomorphs. Thankfully, the Atlantean rolled into the metal box just as its doors closed in front of the creatures.

The teenagers were only guaranteed a short breath of reprieve before Aqualad made an important observation.

"We're headed down?"

Kid Flash and Zephyr looked up to see that indeed, the numbers indicating what floor the elevator was on, were getting larger in value.

"Dude! Out is _up!" _Kid Flash exclaimed to Robin.

"Excuse me? Project Kr? It's down, on sub-level 52!" The youngest of the group countered.

"This is out of control." Aqualad stepped forward, sounding lost. "Perhaps...perhaps we should contact the League."

The group fell into a sort of tense silence where the weight of their situation fell onto them. Doubt began to seep into their minds, thoughts that they may have gotten too far out of their depths.

However, this silence only lasted for a moment before the elevator chimed, signifying that the machine had reached its destination. The heroes jumped to attention, forming defensive battle stances and preparing for anything as the doors opened.

But they weren't met with any resistance. No, what they were faced with instead were hallways made up of what appeared to be red, living organs of some sort. Almost like the trip down to the sub-basement had taken the group into the belly of some kind of alien beast.

"_Well...this is disgusting…_" Zephyr thought.

Robin, as the mission's theme would entail, ran ahead first, leaving the other three in the elevator.

"Welp...we are already here…" Kid Flash mused, facing the others before running off. Aqualad and Zephyr shared a defeated sigh before looking to one another.

"Look on the bright side," Zephyr shrugged, "if we all, you know, die down here we won't have to explain this..._merdier_ to the League."

Aqualad-understandably-did not seem to be comforted by her words.

Running to catch up with the others, the duo found the younger heroes crouched down behind some metal containers in front of a fork in the road.

"Which way?" Aqualad asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Yea...bizzare-looking hallway one, or bizzare-looking hallway two." Robin exclaimed, seeming to have just as little of an idea.

"Hold!"

A sudden unfamiliar voice ripped the teenager's attention behind them, and they were shocked to see that a skinny, man-like figure with horns and the same kind of skin as the Genomorphs had appeared behind them.

Zephyr and Aqualad hardly had enough time to register that the figure matched the silhouette they had seen in the elevator earlier, before his horns glowed red and he lifted his arms; telekinetically throwing a metal canister in the group's direction.

The teens dodged just in time for the cannisters to explode on the wall they had just been in front off, before they all darted for one of the hallways to escape the attacker. Robin attempted to throw a couple of his birdarangs at the figure, only for the creature to use his abilities to stop the projectiles mid-flight, drop them to the ground, and send another couple exploding canisters at the group's escape path.

As the collection of heroes followed the pathway, Kid Flash and Zephyr found themselves in the leads as his superspeed and her flight made them the fastest. But this soon proved to be less of an asset as they turned the corner and crashed into a woman wearing a white lab-coat. The speedster attempted to slide to a halt, but this only succeeded in causing his body to crash into the scientist who in turn fell straight into Zephyr.

Quickly picking himself up from his fall, Kid Flash took notice of the giant metal doors in front of them. The giant metal doors that were promptly closing, apparently automated. Acting quickly, the ginger hero picked up one of the large metal capsules nearby and placed it in the door's path, stalling it's closure.

"Hurry!" The speedster cried, in time for Zephyr to pick herself up, and Robin and Aqualad to join them. All of them darted behind the door, Aqualad being the one to kick the capsule out from the door behind them, just in time to shut it on the group of people and cat-like Genomorphs that seemed to have began chasing them.

Right away, Robin got to hacking on his holo-computer as the room became flooded with darkness, save for a few dim lights around the room.

"I disabled the doors." Robin stated after a beat. "We're safe."

"We're trapped." Aqualad corrected, scanning their new surroundings despite the dark.

"Uh…guys?" KF piped up. "You'll want to see this."

Pressing a button, Kid Flash flooded the room with more lights as a white aura appeared in the center of the room. The lights main focus? A clear, glass pod attached from the floor to the ceiling with reinforced metal. But it was what the pod contained that interested the group.

There in the container, lay a seemingly unconscious teenage boy. A boy with the very familiar face of Superman.

"_Ce que_…" Zephyr guffawed.

Kid Flash slowly walked over to the pod, focusing in on the symbol 'Kr': the project's designation.

"Big-K, little-R." Kid Flash exclaimed. "The atomic symbol for Krypton!"

The speedster turned to face the others.

"Clone?"

"Robin," Aqualad called in a commanding tone, "hack."

"R-right…" The young boy suddenly spurted back to life, snapping out of his daze.

Only taking a moment to bypass security, Robin entered the computer files and began scanning over the information, the others anxiously looking over his shoulders.

"Weapon designation: Superboy." Robin began to read off. "A clone force-grown in.._16 weeks? _From DNA acquired from Superman."

"_Stolen_ from Superman." Aqualad corrected.

"No way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash exclaimed.

"Solar-suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7." Robin added.

"What about these little guys here? There was one on Guardian's shoulder in the energy-grid room, and on the procession of giant Genomorphs." Zephyr asked, pointing to the three small Genomorphs that appeared both in the file's picture, and above the clone's head in the pod in front of them.

"Genomorph gnomes." Robin explained. "Telepathic, force-feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else." Kid Flash hissed. "They're making a slave out of, well, Superman's _son_."

"_Now_ we contact the League." Aqualad commanded, and without any question all three of them attempted to call out. The Atlantean pressing the 'A' on his belt, Robin attempting to use his holo-computer, Zephyr pressing the com-bud in her ear, and Kid Flash pressing on the lightning-shaped headpieces that were attached to his mask.

As nothing but static flooded the teen's communication system, they soon pulled away from their respective devices.

"No signal." Robin explained.

"We're in too deep," Kid Flash muttered, "literally."

There was a beat when the seriousness of everything began to settle in again with the young heroes, before they all focused in on the boy in front of them.

"This is wrong…" Kid Flash said.

"We can't just desert him here, leave him to...goodness knows who or what is behind all of this." Zephyr agreed. She, Kid Flash, and Robin turned to Aqualad: the oldest and justifiably most responsible of the group.

"Set him free." The Atlantean decided after a quick moment of thought. "Do it."

Robin quickly typed more into his holo-computer and not long after, a large gust of air was released from around the glass pod as the sides of it began to slide open.

All was still for a moment.

And then Superboy's fists clenched. Followed by his eyes opening.

And then he launched himself into Aqualad.

As the clone's sudden attack sent the two of them flying a good few yards, Superboy came out on top and began brutally punching Aqualad in the head.

Running to their friend's aid, each of the boys grasped onto one of Superboy's arms as Zephyr reached around to wrap her arms around his body and try and pull him off. This proved to be fairly ineffective as it only succeeded in holding back the punches.

"Hold on Supey!" Kid Flash growled through a tensed jaw.

"We're on...your side!" Robin gasped.

This didn't sway the clone at all, as Superboy pried his arm loose from Kid Flash and directed a punch at the speedster, launching him straight into a nearby column.

"I don't want to do this!" Robin exclaimed, before yanking something out of his utility belt. "Zephyr, _move_!"

Listening, the air-manipulator quickly let go of Superboy and darted out from behind him, just in time for Robin to slap the device he had pulled out into the clone's face. A cloud of dark gas emitted from the device, distracting the powerhouse enough for Aqualad to pry out from under him and deliver a strong kick to Superboy's jaw.

The dual attack sent Superboy back to the control panel in front of his pod, but the reprieve was short lived as he quickly got back up again. Robin tried to add onto the attack by shooting a taser-gun at the clone's chest, but this had little to no effect as Superboy simply grasped onto the chords and yanked Robin over to him, promptly slamming the Boy Wonder into the metal floor.

As the clone stepped directly onto the young hero's ribcage, Zephyr sprung into action; shooting the biggest gust of wind she could collect at him. However, the speeding Winds only knocked their target back enough to get Robin out from under his foot. This seemed to mostly irritate Superboy as he directed his attention onto the girl, quickly launching himself at her. Zephyr was able to dodge his attack, ducking just in time, and sent another strong gust at him, throwing him off-balance and into a nearby wall.

"Please! We mean no harm!" Zephyr tried to plead, but was thrown off-guard when Superboy launched himself at her again. This time crashing into her at top speed and smashing her into the metal floor by the neck.

Having literally all the Wind knocked out of her, and with her respiratory system now blocked by her opponent's hand, Zephyr found herself defenseless as the corners of her vision began to darken.

"Enough!" The sound of Aqualad's voice roared, and Superboy was knocked off of Zephyr. However, even as air was once again able to flood back into her lungs, the room around her was still very dark and growing darker still. Her lungs weren't inhaling the air it now had access too, her diaphragm refusing to move after the impact.

Zephyr could vaguely feel her body being tilted upwards, and could hear Aqualad's voice muttering her name. But it sounded so distant, and the girl couldn't find the strength or the air to respond.

Not a moment later, Lina was completely engulfed in darkness as she blacked out.


	5. In Which They Escape

A/N: sorry for the small delay, I got myself concussed the other day. Anywho, here we go! Translations are down below.

The sound of applause filled the canvas walls, roars and enthusiastic cheers soaring through the air and embracing the collection of people in the center of the huge, circular tent. Even through her earplugs, Lina could hear the noise clearly. But it was different from most other loud noises, this didn't hurt her as much.

The stands were full, that much was obvious even though they were darkened by the shadows cast on by the bright, colourful stage lights that hung over the center. Lina couldn't even see many of the faces in the crowds from her spot high up, perched up on the aerial hoop. But the faces she could make out were grinning from ear-to-ear as they gazed at the performers in front of them.

Lina took a deep breath, the smell of plastic, sweat, and greasy circus food flooding her senses, the hot beams of the lights overhead only adding onto her sweat from the last performance. The weight of the heavy stage makeup, her callused fingers gripping the metal of the hoop, the material of her costume.

All of it, the most beautiful feeling in the world to the fourteen year old girl.

Looking straight up, Lina saw her mother-the beauty that she was-showing off her pearly white teeth as she beamed up at the audience, even blowing them kisses from her perch. Sitting on the top of the hoop, only secured by her grip on the cable that it hung from, wasn't the safest position for Véronique, but she was rarely one to care about that sort of thing.

Sensing her daughter's gaze, the older woman glanced down and hazel eyes met blue as the mother-daughter duo made eye-contact.

"Smile wide at your audience, _ma Papillon_." Véronique smiled to her daughter. "_Aimez-les autant qu'ils tu aimes." _

Nodding, Lina did as instructed and widened her grin to the stands below. Even blowing a kiss or two to them, matching her mother.

As the applause slowly died out, people beginning to file out of the tent, the performers gradually stopped waving and relaxed. The smiles and joy did not dissipate in the slightest from the performers' faces however, everyone too happy at the well-done show.

"Benny, a little lower if you could." Véronique yelled behind her at the rigging men. On cue, the hoop the two women were on slowly began to lower towards the ground. The elder of the two leapt off as soon as they reached a reasonable height, but Lina remained sitting for a while longer until she was met with the familiar face of one Russian strongman.

"You were marvelously _vpechatlyayushchiy, _Ms. Lina." Mateo smiled as he extended his arms. Lina smiled and nodded, letting the man perch her on his broad shoulders.

"_Spasibo, _Mateo." Lina replied, smiling down at the mountain of a man below her. "You were spectacular as well."

"Anyone with some meat on their bones can do what I do." The strongman handwaved, gently squeezing the knee he held to balance the girl on his shoulders. "It takes great talent to do what you and your _Mat_ do."

"Are you spoiling my daughter again Mateo?" Véronique asked, walking up beside them. "_Vy idete, chtoby poluchit' yeye zavisimost', chtoby pokhvalit', yesli vy prodolzhayete._"

"Apologies Madam," Mateo smiled, looking at the woman, and then up at the girl again, "but I don't believe that would be completely unwarranted."

"Not to mention she more than deserves high-praise tonight." The kind voice of Markus said as he snuck up behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her costume-covered waist and pulling her into a backwards embrace. Véronique smiled coyly as she melted into her husband's body. "Just as Ma Ange does."

Even though Véronique rolled her eyes, the smile, accompanied by her lovingly pulling her husband into a passionate kiss showed that she was more than pleased by his words.

"Lina! Lina!" The high-pitched boys voice met the girl's ears and she perked up to see Leo, accompanied not far behind by Calvin, running up to his family. Mateo, deciding to let the family speak and begin on his cleaning duties, gently placed Lina down on the ground, patted her head gently, and walked away.

"Did you see me up there with Orion?" The ten-year-old Leo exclaimed as he ran up to his older sister. Tonight had been Leo's turn to help with the lion act, his favorite act to help with.

Indeed, having an act named 'The young Leo and the terrifyingly terrific lions' was amusing to say the least.

"I did, I'm surprised Cortez and Julien actually let you take him out of the ring. The children certainly loved it." Lina laughed.

"Orion's old and the most well-mannered." Leo shrugged. "But it was so cool! You did see it, right? Like, the whole thing? Even the m-""She said she saw it, you clown. _Calme-toi_."

Calvin's interruption earned him a stuck-out-tongue from his little brother.

"Patrick, Mickey, and Ester are cool; so I'm taking 'clown' as a compliment!" Leo huffed in retort, earning a small chuckle from his older siblings.

"_Touché._" Calvin smiled, shrugging. Then he turned to Lina, and she noticed that he was still wearing the charcoal-coloured face paint across his eyes that was meant to look like a mask. The black accentuating his blue orbs. "You want to go greet the adoring public? Do the old we're-siblings-and-therefore-adorable shtick?"

"Candy floss does sound nice, I wonder if we can get some from Mia." Lina nodded, and the three of them began making their way to the opening the public had just exited out from.

"Be safe!" Markus called after his children.

"Oh please, we're always safe." Calvin smirked.

"Says the fire-eater about the aerialist and the lion-tamer?" Leo snorted, causing the other two to laugh.

"_Time runs short._" The sudden burst of pain caused Lina to freeze, grabbing onto her head as it erupted into pain.

Where had that voice come from?

"_You must awaken_!" As the voice returned, Lina tensed even more, curling into herself.

"_You must awaken __**now**__!"_

Zephyr's eyes flew open as she gasped for breath.

The first thing to hit her was the light. Dim and white, it hurt her eyes and made her wish she could go back to being unconscious. Despite the light burning through to her brain, Zephyr kept her eyes open and looked around at her surroundings. She couldn't make out much, but she could feel that she was bound tightly by her wrists above her head, her wrists encased in a thick metal. She also realized that she was encased in some kind of glass cocoon, causing the area outside to gleam and appear blurry.

But most of all, what struck Zephyr was the pounding pain that ran through her head.

"_Where am I_?" Her groggy thoughts mentally asked. "_What happened?"_

Then she remembered.

The tour of the Hall, Speedy quitting, the secrets and lies being revealed, her, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin running out to Cadmus; the Genomorphs, Superboy, Superboy attacking them…

Zephyr held back a groan as the memories flooded back. She must have been out for a couple hours, that's why the lights hurt her so much. Her medication was beginning to wear out.

Forcing herself to open her eyes again, she looked through the glass walls to see her comrades beside her; Aqualad to her right, and Kid Flash and Robin to her left. All of them in similar glass pods with their wrists bound by the metal latches. Every one of them seemed groggy. In front of all of them however, Zephyr was surprised to see an emotionless Superboy standing, staring at all of them.

"W-what? What do you want?" Kid Flash suddenly yelled at the clone, apparently much more awake. "Quit staring...you're creeping me out!"

"Uh, Kid…" Robin interjected, voice groggy, "how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?"

Superboy didn't react to either boy's words, simply continuing to stare emotionlessly at the heroes.

"We only sought to help you-" Aqualad began, but was quickly cut off by a still angry Kid Flash.

"Yea, we free you and you turn on us, how's that for gra-""Kid." Aqualad cut off this time, his tone commanding and stern. "Please, be quiet now. I believe our friend was not in full control of his actions."

"What if I-" Superboy caused, his voice raspy from obviously never using it before. "What if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" Kid Flash exclaimed, sounding utterly surprised.

Superboy did not seem to take too kindly to this, clenching his fist at his side. "Yes, _he_ can."

The ginger speedster received looks from each of his friends, Zephyr even muttering a "really?".

"What? It's not like I said 'it'!" KF justified.

Aqualad turned back to the boy in question. "The Genomorphs taught you telepathically?"

"They taught me much." Superboy replied. "I can read, write...I know the names of things."

"But these things that you have learned of, have you actually experienced them?" Zephyr asked. "Have you ever been able to see the sky? The sun? Have you ever known a life outside of your pod?"

"Images are implanted in my mind, but...no. I have not _seen_ them." Superboy lowered his head, troubled by this.

"Do you know what you are? _Who_ you are?" Aqualad asked.

"I am the Superboy, a Genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish...to destroy him should he turn from the light."

A chill simultaneously ran through each of the teenager's spines as Kid Flash, Zephyr, and Robin all looked to each other with looks of shock. Aqualad however, pushed forward.

"To be like Superman is...a worthy aspiration. But like Superman, you deserve a life of your own." The Atlantean explained. "Beyond that solar-suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus."

"I live _because_ of Cadmus! It is my home!"

"Your 'home' is a test-tube." Robin reasoned.

"We can give you the life and experiences you have been denied, the life you deserve." Zephyr explained, putting her strength into giving the boy a small smile. "We can show you the beautiful world outside. The Earth, the sky, the sun-"

"Uh, pretty sure it's after midnight…" Wally interjected. "But we can show you the moon."

"We can show you, _introduce_ you, to Superman."

Just as a look of hope began to make its way into Superboy's face, and the teenagers began to believe that they may have managed to accomplish their mission, a new voice entered the room.

"No, they can't." The door opened to reveal Guardian, the woman scientist that Kid Flash and Zephyr had literally knocked into, and a new figure: a greasy-looking man wearing a white lab coat, his face aged and his long hair pulled into a ponytail. All three of them had a Genomorph-gnome on their shoulder. "They'll be...otherwise occupied. Activate the cloning procedure."

"Pass, Batcave's crowded enough." Robin remarked.

The other teens were a little astounded that the young boy could joke about an non-consensual _cloning_ _procedure_. However, the scientist didn't even pay the Boy Wonder's remark any mind.

"And get the weapon back in it's pod!" The man ordered.

"Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an 'it'?" Kid Flash exclaimed, earning him a disapproving look from Zephyr.

As Guardian walked over to Superboy, the clone looked over to Aqualad. As a last resort, the Atlantean returned his gaze with a pleading one.

"Help us."

In response, and to many people's surprise, Superboy shrugged off Guardian's hand.

However, the small victory was short-lived as the scientist walked over to the clone, a look of irritation on his face.

"Don't start thinking now!" The scientist's Genomorph-gnome hopped onto Superboy's shoulder, and the boy's eyes glazed over. "See, you're not a _real_ _boy_, you're a weapon. And you belong to me-well-to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!"

Not another moment after, Superboy robotically walked out of the room.

Before any of the teenagers could process the loss of their only hope however, they were soon distracted by mechanical arms, attached with four needle-like tips, coming out of the ground. Each of them fought, pulling against their restraints, but to no avail.

The needles plunged into each of their chests, accompanied by raging shocks of electricity as blood drained from each of the heroes bodies. Above their own groans and screams, each of the teens could hear those of their comrades.

Blood rushing, throat becoming sore as screams scratched their vocal chords, muscles on fire, tears welling up in eyes. Each one of the young heroes could feel these, but they were drowned out by over-arching blistering pain that sparked through their bodies for what seemed like several eternities.

Zephyr could vaguely hear the screaming voices of her Winds, but the pain and her brain's oversensory of it caused the elemental cries to become muffled and mixed in with her own screams, and those of her friends.

The others however, vaguely heard something else entirely. The sound of the male scientist saying "delete the source material".

Just as the teens felt they were about to pass out again, loud banging sounds and the sound of tearing metal filled the room and the electric shocks came to pass.

"I told you to get back to your-" the scientist was unable to finish as he was met with Superboy's fist, sending the older man into a nearby wall.

"Don't give me orders." Superboy growled.

"Are you here to help us…" Kid Flash asked nervously as the clone turned to face them "or fry us?"

Superboy's eyes narrowed and he stared at the ginger for a long, pregnant pause. Then he eased up, a trace of a smile pulling at his lips. "I don't seem to have heat-vision so I guess helping is my only option."

"Y-you're...joking, right?" Zephyr asked, still out of breath. Her tone laced with mild worry. But she never got an answer as Robin suddenly jumped out of his pod, rubbing his wrists.

"Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here, he'd have my head for taking this long." The Boy Wonder said victoriously.

"Dude, _that's_ what you're worried about? The whole League'll have our heads after tonight!"

"I quite like my head…" Zephyr muttered sleepily, but it was so low that she didn't think anyone heard her. A moment later when she realized her words, she shook her head.

As the young girl looked up, she was quick to notice that one of the pillars on one side of the room had toppled over, presumably during their shocking as she hadn't noticed it before. "W-what…?"

Robin walked over to the computer and began typing, making the needles retract and the glass doors of the pods open. "Free Aqualad and Zephyr." Robin told Superboy. "I'll get Kid Mouth."

"Don't you give me orders either!" Superboy snarled, but did as he was told nonetheless. Rushing over to Aqualad first and breaking the metal shackles, catching the Atlantean as he sagged over, then doing the same to Zephyr. Although the latter shuffled forward uneasily, she caught herself.

"Thank you…" Aqualad muttered to Superboy, a grateful smile gracing his features.

As the two had their moment, Zephyr reached for the hidden compartment on her left thigh, just at her hip. But as she pulled out the syringe full of translucent blue liquid, Superboy suddenly stepped back, alert.

"_Calme-toi_." Zephyr mumbled, pursing her lips as she rolled up the loose sleeve of her cape-fleece and injected the syringe into her bloodstream. "If we're going to get out of here, I'm going to need to be able to work properly."

"_That_ wasn't 'working properly'?" Kid Flash exclaimed, pointing to the fallen column. Zephyr frowned, even as the liquid running through her began to dull any pain she felt.

Before she could ask what he meant however, the male scientist moving caught all the teen's attention and they began making their way towards the now ripped apart door.

"Y-you'll never get out of here!" The crazed scientist yelled after them. "I'll have you back in pods by morning!"

Robin, before crossing the threshold, stopped to pull a handful of birdarangs out from his utility belt. "That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all."

"What is it with you and his 'whelmed' thing?" Kid Flash asked as the Boy Wonder threw his projectiles, and the two continued to exit the chamber.

The group of five ran through hallway after hallway, climbing up a few levels. This time, they were actually able to stay together, but not very long after their escape the group began to notice that strange-looking patches on the walls around them began to glow red.

"We're still 42 levels below ground, but if we can make the elevator…"

Sadly Aqualad's plan came to a screeching halt when the same kind of mammoth-esk genomorphs from earlier cut off the teens' only path to their escape. As if that wasn't bad enough, the glowing patches began to tear open like shell-less eggs to reveal the cat-like creatures that the group had encountered with Guardian.

Aqualad, Robin, Zephyr, and Kid Flash managed to find their way around the mammoths, doing their best to climb/leap/fly over them, but Superboy took a different approach as he leapt up to punch one of the giants the face, only to be promptly smashed to the ground by another's fist.

"Superboy!" Aqualad yelled out. "The goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here!"

"You want escape?!" Superboy screamed back, seemingly in madness, and with a following burst of rage he threw one of the giant creatures into the wall besides him.

Deciding to use the distraction to their advantage, the remaining heroes ran over to the elevator door and Aqualad pried them open once again. Looking up, the mere sight of the seemingly never-ending levels shook the teens, but they carried through.

Zephyr looked to Kid Flash who nodded and held onto her shoulders as she summoned Winds to lift them off into the air. Robin triggering his grappling hook, all just in time for Superboy to join them; apparently done fighting with the genetically-modified mammoths. The clone grabbed onto Aqualad and leapt, making it a good few stories before his ascent slowed down, then stopped.

"I'm...I'm falling."

Startled, Zephyr managed to catch the two falling boys with some more Winds, but strained under the weight.

"Reaching full carrying capacity…" Zephyr growled through gritted teeth. Thankfully, Robin threw a Birdarang onto the wall by Aqualad and Superboy and the former caught on, supporting both himself and Superboy and leaving Zephyr able to let go of them.

"Superman can fly...why can't I fly?" Superboy asked, obviously dazed.

"Dunno, but looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound." Wally shrugged, ever the optimist. "Still cool."

The clone looked around at his new comrades and muttered a low "thank you".

"Guys," Robin called, directing everyone's attention to him and the high-pitched rumbling of the elevator which was quickly approaching. "This will have to be our exit."

Busting down the nearest door, the five escaped the shaft as the elevator zoomed by. This hallway, sub-level 15, was much more pleasing than sub-level 52, looking more like an office building with its wooden walls and normal, linear, white lights. However, the normalcy was soon interrupted by the cat-like Genomorphs flooding the opposite end, looking ready to fight the teenagers.

Not waiting for them to catch up, the group of five ran down the nearest corridor.

"Go left! Left!" Superboy suddenly yelled, and not having any better ideas, the others followed.

"Right!"

Unfortunately however, Superboy's directions only managed to get them to a dead end. Faced with a simple wall with only an air-vent.

"Great directions Supey, you trying to get us re-poded?" Kid Flash exclaimed.

Superboy appeared confused, lost in thought. "No...I-I don't understand…"

"Don't apologize!" Robin cried out. "This is perfect!"

Looking to Zephyr, the young Boy Wonder motioned to the air-vent with a small smirk. "Ladies first."

Smiling back at the young boy and nodding, Zephyr stepped forward and pulled up her hood, which had seemingly fallen down during the fight with Superboy. Extending her arm, the girl grabbed the Winds she could feel within the vent with a tight fist, and yanked back. Listening to their command, the Winds rushed forward; taking off the gate with them. Not wasting anymore time, Zephyr flew up and forward through the vent, turning to lift Robin and Kid Flash up with her before Aqualad and Superboy jumped in after them, using their enhanced strength to make the leap themselves.

However, the small structure of the vent was only navigable if the teens crawled on all fours, which significantly slowed them down. KF didn't seem overly partial to this, which he voiced after a few minutes.

"At this rate, we'll never get out."

"Sshhh." Shushed Superboy. "Listen."

However, none of the heroes could hear anything.

Until a moment later when the sounds of claws against metal made their way down the tunnel.

"Go! Go!" Aqualad exclaimed, and the group hurriedly scuffled as quickly as they could before turning to the nearest gate. This time using her foot, Zephyr kicked open the gate and jumped down, landing on the ground before being followed by her comrades.

Without missing a beat, Robin ran over to one of the hallway's outlets and plugged it into his holo-computer. A moment later, he looked up to the others looking triumphant.

"I hacked the motion sensors."

"Sweet!" Kid Flash grinned.

"Still plenty of them between us and out." Robin explained.

"But I finally have room to move!" The speedster slid down his goggles and ran through a nearby door which lead into a stairwell, not even hesitating for a moment.

"Always has to run ahead." Zephyr muttered with a small smile to Aqualad, who returned her smile for a moment before the group shot off like a bullet.

As the group caught up with their speedster, a group of Genomorphs made their way towards them. But Wally simply accelerated, knocking all of them down like bowling pins.

"More behind us!" Robin yelled out. Superboy, the tail of the group, stopped and peered down at the band of Genomorphs hurriedly climbing the stairs behind them. This was soon resolved as the clone stomped down onto the step below him, and the entire staircase crumbled to the ground.

After dashing up several more flights of stairs, the group finally found their way to the top and Kid Flash zipped through the door. When the rest of the group entered into the adjoined hallway however, they found the corridor flooded with red light and the speedster laying on the ground in front of a large metal door.

"We're cut off from the street." Aqualad exclaimed.

"Thanks, my head hadn't noticed." Kid Flash mumbled sarcastically in return.

Aqualad and Superboy ran over to the doors, attempting to pry it open with sheer force, and Robin pulled up his holo-computer to hack into it. But they were cut off by more creatures quickly approaching and all of them quit their efforts in favor of running through a nearby door.

Only to be cut off by a whole parade's worth of Genomorphs of varying size and type, and at the center of it all: Guardian.

The teens tried to retract, tuning back to escape, but that was soon blocked off by more creatures as well.

They were forced to take a stand, Aqualad and Robin taking out weapons while the others took fighting stances.

But then, before anyone attacked from either side, the group was hit with a strong wave and everything went black.

"_Evangelina, ma papillon, you need to wake up now."_

_The familiar voice called out, but to Lina it was so distant and muffled._

"_Mama?" Lina called out, her eyes were too heavy to lift but she knew she was lying down. On what, she could not decipher._

"_It's time to wake up, ma fille, you haven't finished the show yet."_

"_The...show?" Lina mumbled, the voice almost too muffled to understand what it was saying. "What show?"_

"_You know what show, Lina." The voice replied, this time getting even more muffled and distant. "And you know you need to wake up."_

"_Mama? Mama, what show?"_

As Zephyr's eyes finally opened, she was surprised to see that Superboy was the only one of the group that was standing. But as she looked around at the other partners, she was relieved to see that they were also awakening. As they all stood, Aqualad focused in on the hero in front of them.

"Guardian?"

"Go." The black and blue-clad hero instructed. "I'll deal with Desmond."

"Desmond?" Zephyr whispered out of confusion.

"I think not."

The Genomorphs split to reveal the male scientist from before, behind them.

"Oh, _Desmond_." The air-manipulator realized, finally learning the scientist's name.

The man held up a vile of pale blue-green liquid that seemed to glow in the darkness of the corridor.

"Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus." The man grumbled, before downing the vile all in one gulp.

As the man keeled over onto the ground in pain, his body began to seize and twitch. Groans of pain filled the room and Zephyr moved to help the scientist, only to be stopped by Aqualad's arm, just as the man's white lab coat shred to pieces, revealing his flesh which was slowly morphing into the colour of cement. The man raised his head to show the flesh of it was tearing apart, and revealed fully black eyes with red dots where his irises should be. As the man began to stand, most of his ripped skin and clothing fell off his body to reveal his new form: a ginormous creature with grey skin and the remains of human flesh hanging off of him.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian commanded before running at the new Desmond. He didn't last long however as the creature batted him away like a fly, throwing the fully grown man into a wall.

Before anyone could think next, Superboy charged at the former scientist, his fist slamming into Desmond's face before he was punched into the ground by the snarling beast. Superboy persisted however, jumping right back into it to deliver a strong uppercut to his opponent's jaw, followed by a few more decent punches. But the boy's assault was short-lived since when he tried to jump and deliver a diving attack, Desmond leapt up, surging through the clone and sending both of them through the ceiling; leaving a giant hole in their wake.

"Well, that's one way to bust through the ceiling…" Robin shrugged, shooting off his grappling hook.

"You think Lab-Coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked, grabbing onto Robin as the two flew up.

"I doubt he is planning anything anymore." Aqualad replied grimly, turning to a frowning Zephyr. Wordlessly grasping her shoulder with one webbed hand, the Atlantean held on as his partner gathered up her Winds and flew them up through the crater.

As soon as they landed however, the two of them were knocked down by Superboy being thrown into them.

As Robin and Kid Flash ran over to help the three of them back up, they regrouped; forming a line side-by-side as they faced off against the giant monster that wanted them dead.

Kid Flash ran off first, zipping towards the creature and then dashing through his legs to land on all fours, directly followed by Aqualad and Superboy punching Desmond in the jaw. The creature toppled over and tripped over Kid Flash, which sent him crashing into the ground.

"Learned that one in kindergarten." The speedster grinned.

Flying overtop, Zephyr gathered as many Winds as she could, directing them across Desmond's body before pushing them down to increase the gravity and pressure around the beast.

"Do everyone a favor and please, stay down!" The girl exclaimed.

With a loud growl however, Desmon slowly stood back up even as Zephyr anxiously tried to add more pressure around him.

Giving up just as he stood, the girl redirected her currents to around the creature's head. Moving her hands in circles as the Winds followed, creating a sphere of air around his head. Desmon paused, unbalanced by the sudden lack of oxygen, but once again he overpowered her attack and swung his fist, sending Zephyr into the ground and knocking all the air out of her, causing her Winds to disperse.

Quickly regaining his composure, Desmond went after Superboy, grabbing him and crashing his body into a nearby column. As the monster kept decking the smaller boy, it seemed like he was trying to punch Superboy through the column. He was stopped however, when Aqualad used his water-bearers to form a whip and wrapped it around Desmond's arm. The creature tried to grab onto the Atlantean, using the whip to yank him over, but Aqualad simply launched off of his face, using it as a spring-board and he reformed his whips into a spiked mace. Aqualad never landed his attack however, as he was promptly grabbed onto and punched into the floor.

To finish the onslaught, Desmond threw Superboy into another column, rubble falling onto the young boy's body.

Wally promptly ran up to try and help Aqualad, who Desmond had turned his attention to, but the ginger to was quickly snatched up. Aqualad tried to get back up, summoning back his spiked mace, but the two heroes were thrown away with nearly enough force to knock them out. Aqualad however, seemed to still hold Desmond's attention as the creature attempted to crash the Atlantean's body through the column by force.

Flying over to Robin, Zephyr fought back the impulse to run in and try to help the others despite knowing she wouldn't be of much assistance.

"We need a plan, we're getting killed!" The air-manipulator exclaimed.

"I do have an idea." Robin said, pulling up a map of the room they were standing in on his holo-computer. He also called out to Kid Flash, summoning him over to them. As the speedster ran over, Robin began to explain. "You see these columns? They're supportive, they help hold up the building."

"Meaning if they come down, the building goes down with them!" Kid Flash added.

"Right, and if Desmond keeps at it the way he is…" Robin motioned to the creature, crumbling the column in front of him by swinging Superboy into it. "Got it?"

"Got it." Kid Flash and Zephyr replied in unison.

"Go."

Kid Flash ran up to Desmond, still brawling with Superboy, and leapt up. Making a blind grab, he clutched onto the first thing he could reach as the boy leapt in front of the creature's face. Once he landed, KF realized that what he had grabbed was the piece of flesh that had once been Desmond's nose.

"Got your nose!" The speedster exclaimed with a grin, and Desmond threw Superboy away and charged for the ginger, only for Zephyr to send a large gust of air towards him, causing him to lose his footing and turn to her.

"C'mon you..._crétin_."

Desmond charged at her, only for Zephyr to swoop up at the last minute and use a strong air-slice to add to his force and send him crashing straight into the column that was behind her.

Zephyr heard Robin call Aqualad and Superboy over to explain their plan as Desmond shook off the damage, this time redirecting his fury to Kid Flash who appeared in front of the column across the way.

"Over here you incredible bulk!" He cried out, and Desmond came running at him to crash head-first into the supportive beam. However, KF was a little too slow and ended up getting hit by a small piece of rubble.

The hit slowing him down, Desmond was still able to readjust and head back straight to the speedster, going to slam his fists into the boy but thankfully, Zephyr was able to fly in and form an enforced bubble around them as a kind of forcefield.

"Zeph', you're an angel." KF cried.

"But of course." Zephyr replied, sending her teammate a friendly wink before thrusting her arms forward and sending the Winds that had made up the bubble straight into Desmond's jaw, throwing him back.

As he staggered, Kid Flash grabbed Zephyr by the hand and raced them to safety. In their peripherals, they could see that Aqualad and Superboy were taking down the remaining columns.

"Here!" Everyone turned to see Robin motioning to an area closeby, which Aqualad quickly flooded over with water.

KF and Zephyr raced over to the pool, daring Desmond to come at them, and the monster complied. He charged at the two pieces of live bait, only to be knocked down by a strong punch by Superboy, which made him collapse right onto the water. Before he could get up, Aqualad charged up the electricity that flowed through his curling arm tattoos and lowered his hands in the water, electrifying it with a single touch. The shock raced through the water and into Desmond, electrocuting him as he let out a loud howl of pain.

"Move!" Robin cried, and as the sounds of his exploding birdarangs charging up filled the air, all of the teenagers gathered together. Not a moment later, the room was filled with the fire and rubble of the following explosions. As the building crashed down around them, the team of five tried to dash out. But they were too slow, and the debris collapsed on top of them. At the last minute, Zephyr summoned her Winds again and formed a bubble around her five all of them.

Once the falling rocks had settled and the smoke cleared, Zephyr threw out her currents, tossing the clutter that had fallen onto it in the process. As the weight she had just carried sunk into her muscles, she staggered back into Aqualad who caught her and helped her stay standing even though he, along with everyone else, was panting heavily and crouched over in pain.

"We...did it?" Aqualad said through huffs of air, his statement clouded with disbelief.

"Was there...ever any doubt?" Robin gasped back. He and Kid Flash high-fived in victory, only for the impact to strike their most-certainly broken ribs and they let out a groan of pain.

"None in the...slightest." Zephyr laughed, rubbing her side which felt like it was on fire.

Superboy took a step towards the now-unconscious Desmond, the creature's body covered in rubble. He seemed lost in thought, but that was stopped when Kid Flash called his attention back.

"Look, the moon." The speedster motioned up to the sky, where the moon sat so big and full that it almost looked fake. Superboy's eyes glazed over as he stood there, peering up at the moon with absolute awe.

But then, the moon's image was interrupted as a small black dot appeared in front of it. As the dot got closer, it appeared to a humanoid figure wearing a cape, quickly descending from the skies and towards the teenagers. As it got closer to them, the very familiar features came into view.

"Oh...and Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?"

As Superman got even closer, he was joined by more and more people. Every Leaguer was there, standing on the edge of the crater that had once been a genetics lab; gazing down at the teenagers with mostly unreadable expressions. You could almost hear the horns in the background, regally announcing their presence.

"We are in so much trouble…" Zephyr muttered.

As everyone saw Superman's eyes make their way to the unknown teenager amongst the protégés, Superboy stepped forward. Pulling up the scrap of his solar suit that had ripped during the battle, and proudly showcased the famous 's' shield. The same shield that was imprinted on Superman's chest.

As to be expected, Superman appeared shocked at the new discovery. But what was not to be expected, and what seemed to deeply anger the younger Kryptonian, was the firm look that moved over his features not a moment later. A cold look that seemed to pass right through Superboy as if he wasn't even there.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked out loud.

"He doesn't like being called an it…" Kid Flash cringed.

"And _he_ has a name." Zephyr added, following KF in stepping beside Superboy.

"I'm Superman's clone!"

Superboy's sudden exclamation shocked every Justice Leaguer as they fell at ease to look at one another in confusion.

The area was flooded with silence, an awkward one full of tension that _nobody _in the proximity wanted to be a part of. Until, that is, Batman cut in.

"Start talking."

'_Aimez-les autant qu'ils tu aimes_': roughly, "Love them as much as they love you"

'_vpechatlyayushchiy'_: Russian for very "impressive/spectacular"

'_Spasibo'_: Russian for "thank you"

'_Mat'_: Russian for "mother"

'_Vy idete, chtoby poluchit' yeye zavisimost', chtoby pokhvalit', yesli vy prodolzhayete_': roughly, "you will get her addicted to oriaee if you keep this up"

'_Ma Ange'_: French term of endearment, meaning 'My Angel'

'_crétin'_: French for "cretin"


	6. In Which The Rebellion Resumes

A/N: Sorry again for the super late update guys! This week has been uber busy with school and work. Honestly, don't expect a strict updating schedule with a specific day. But I promise, there will be a chapter out every week, at least to the best of my ability. Thank you and love y'all lots!

**Project Cadmus**

**July 5**

**1:21**

Each of the younger heroes did their best to help explain the events that had unfolded that evening. With Aqualad providing the most structured explanations, Robin butting in some less-than-crucial-but-still-cool details, Kid Flash adding sound effects and the odd rambling, and Zephyr making sure the latter two didn't veer the story too far off course.

Once the adolescents finally finished their story, most of the League proceeded to leave as they weren't needed. A few of Leaguers took Desmond away to be locked up, flying away as the Green Lanterns used their rings to carry him. Batman, Flash, Aquaman, and Red Tornado were left huddled off to one side; undoubtedly discussing what they were going to do with their kids. But on the other side of the crater, their proteges stood in much a similar huddle, save of course for the inclusion of an extra member.

"So we're all totally grounded, right?" Kid Flash snorted.

"Oh totally." Robin said. "But...now what?"

"What do you mean?" Zephyr asked.

"Well...what about all of us?" Robin asked, gesturing to the circle. "I mean, I know the mission wasn't exactly perfect but...I mean, we did _some_ good, right?"

"We imploded a building, almost got cloned, and our meer presence led to a lead scientist mutating himself…" Kid Flash pointed.

"But we did make quite a good team." Aqualad debated, frowning and lifting his finger to his chin in thought. "And even the Justice League's first mission was not without its faults."

"Besides, we gotta get Supey some field-training somehow." Robin smirked. At this, the clone merely raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, are you guys suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Kid Flash asked, seeming almost puppy-ish with his look of both hesitance and excitement.

"What? What are you suggesting?" Zephyr frowned, looking around at her comrades.

"Zeph'," Robin said, "what if we made this, our own team, a long-term thing?"

The girl blinked for a moment, looked to Aqualad, and then back to the others. "There's no way the League will approve."

"Why do you need their permission?" Superboy asked, the shadow of a frown between his eyebrows.

"He has a point." KF said, motioning to the clone. "They keep secrets from us, treat us like kids, and never give us a chance to prove ourselves. So...if they don't want us a part of their team, why not start our own?"

"Wow, that's probably the most articulate thing you've said tonight." Robin chuckled, earning an elbow in the ribs. This caused Robin to keel over slightly in pain, his ribs obviously still damaged from their escape.

Zephyr bit her lip, fiddled with a strand of her hair, and turned back to Aqualad who caught her gaze.

"Do you _really_ think this is a good idea?" The air-manipulating girl asked, her eyes emanating seriousness even through her mask.

Aqualad nodded. "I do. However, we can't be a united front without you. We hold our best chances if we are _all_ in this: together."

The girl took a deep breath, then looked to Superboy. The boys quickly followed suit, peering at the dark-haired clone.

Superboy stared back for a long moment, then shrugged.

Zephyr sighed, then gave the boys a small smile. "Alright then, let the revolution resume."

Seemingly finished with the conversation, Superboy turned his attention back to a small group off to the side of the crater. Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and where the young clone was intensely focused; Superman.

Sensing Superboy's gaze, Martian Manhunter placed a hand on Superman's shoulder. After several moments of getting mentally lectured by his two friends and comrades, Superman cautiously walked over to his clone. Anxious to see what the Kryptonian superhero would say, the four proteges listened in closely.

"We'll figure something out for you-the League will, I mean." Superman said, sounding as if he would rather be anywhere but with the boy in front of him. "For now I...better make sure they get that Blockbuster-creature squared away."

And with that, the 'Blue Boy Scout' flew off.

Looking to one another for a moment, Zephyr was the quickest of the group of four to react. Quickly floating over to the boy, she went to place her hand on his shoulder. For a moment however, she hesitated; wondering if the boy would be alright with her touching him. But when she realized he had not flinched or moved away when she reached out, she went for it and gently touched his upper bicep.

"This is a surprise to him." The girl said with her best consoling voice. "Give him some time, but for now...you have us. You know, with our new team. If you'll have us."

Superboy didn't respond, but the look he gave Zephyr made her feel that she was heard.

Their interaction was cut short by the other remaining League members, the group's mentors, walking up. Each of the younger heroes looked straight into their mentor's eyes, not once daring to break the eye contact.

"Cadmus will be investigated." Batman explained. "All 52 levels of it, but let's make one thing clear-""You should have called!"

Flash's interruption earned him an icy glare from the Bat.

"End results aside, we are _not_ happy." Batman continued. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will _not _be doing this again."

"I'm sorry," Aqualad cut in, "but we will."\

"Aqualad!" Aquaman man exclaimed. "Stand down!"

The younger Atlantean saluted respectfully, "Apologies my King, but no. We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important."

Flash cut in yet again, "If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the four of you-"

"The _five_ of us." Zephyr corrected, her hand still on Superboy's shoulder.

"And it's not." Kid Flash added.

"Batman," Robin pleaded to his mentor, "we're ready to use what you've taught us. Or why teach us at all?"

"Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy asked, stepping forward. "It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way."

With the intense, fiery gazes of five teenagers. The League members, especially Batman, were cornered.

"Give me three days."

The area around the group fell still and silent, nobody moving as minds worked quickly. The children, analyzing the deal they were potentially signing up for. The adults, wondering how this was all going to play out.

Until Kid Flash spoke up.

"Three days isn't so long."

The tension broke, shoulders dropping and everyone going back to feeling like they could breathe again. The armistice had been signed.

"Uh, guys…" Robin muttered, and motioned to one Superboy who had found himself in the back, looking down at the ground, obviously very uncomfortable and feeling out-of-place.

"Hey Supey, how 'bout you come home with me?" Kid Flash piped up.

"Will your folks be okay with a house guest?" Robin asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier. Besides," the ginger looked around at the group, "A confidential Batcave, the ocean, and a packed farm in a foreign country don't really make for great real estate for someone trying to integrate into society."

"This is true…" Aqualad nodded. "But nonetheless, if either of you find yourselves in any need of assistance-"

"It's only three days." Kid Flash handwaved. "What could go wrong?"

"Famous last words, KF." Zephyr smirked.

"Then it's a really good thing I have you guys on speed-dial then, Zeph'." The speedster winked. "Anyways, we better get going so I can give the run down to Mom and Dad. You ready Supey?" Superboy nodded.

"C'mon guys, I'll drop the two of you off." Flash said, waving the two boys over. Before the three of them left however, Zephyr felt a pressure on her cheek and looked to see Kid Flash smirking beside her.

"Until next time madam." The ginger smirked.

Zephyr giggled, but lightly slapped his shoulder as she rolled her eyes. "Get out of here, _Dragueur_."

"Love you too." The ginger yelled back as he ran off. "Bye guys, see you in three days."

"Superboy!" Zephyr called after the clone, causing him to turn around and face her. "If Kid Mouth gives you any trouble, you have my permission to hit him a little."

"She doesn't mean that." Kid Flash explained hurriedly, just as they disappeared.

"I should be taking my leave as well." Aqualad said, catching the other remaining two protégé's attentions. "You'll pardon me for not kissing either of you however."

"Somehow I think we'll survive without." Robin smirked, giving a two-fingered salute in goodbye.

"We'll see you in three days." Zephyr smiled, giving the boy a quick hug which he happily returned.

"Knowing this circle, I suspect before that." Aqualad replied. "But I look forward to it nonetheless."

Smiling at each other, Aqualad began to walk towards his mentor, he and the young air-manipulator holding each other's hands until they grew too far apart.

Once the Atlantean duo had disappeared as well, the two remaining teens looked to one another. Zephyr was a little surprised to see that Robin was smirking slightly. "_Que_?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, nothing…" Robin replied, smirk only growing before he seemingly changed the subject. "Good thing you're on summer break, isn't it, like, dawn your time?"

"Unfortunately." Zephyr sighed as she pulled down her hood to let her brown locks flow freely. "But it's not like this is a great bedtime for you either."

"Please, have you met my mentor?" Robin joked, motioning to Batman. "'Dark knight'? More like 'Eternal night'."

Giggling again, Zephyr patted the boy affectionately on the head. "Well, still, get home and get some sleep _Bird Boy_."

"You too, _Airhead_."

This time, the girl's laughter was fully forced and fake. "Wow, haven't heard that one before."

As the two heroes split off to reunite with their own mentors, Zephyr looked up expectantly at hers. Red Tornado, however, made no motion to do anything for a long, pregnant, moment.

"You disobeyed orders." The robot finally stated, causing the girl in front of him to look down at the ground.

"I know."

"You broke Justice League protocol, and our rule about going into battles without at least informing either Black Canary or myself."

"To be fair, that wasn't exactly _just_ my fault."

"You could have seriously injured civilians, Cadmus workers, or yourselves."

"...yes."

Another moment of silence.

And then a large, metal hand found its way to Zephyr's shoulder and the young girl looked up at her mentor.

"But you did good work, saved an innocent life from slavery and brainwashing, and formed a somewhat capable team that has potential to grow."

Zephyr's lips pulled into a smile as her ears practically perked up.

"Does that mean I'm not grounded?"

"I don't see the logic behind disciplining you, as I believe you are capable of knowing that the way you acted wasn't-as some may say-'thinking smart'. So you face no such 'grounding' from me."

Zephyr sighed in relief.

"However," Red Tornado interrupted his mentor's mental celebration, "Dinah still reserves the right to discipline you as she sees fit."

This news sent a kick of anxiety straight into the French girl's stomach.

"Oh…_merde_."

"Indeed." Red Tornado nodded. "Anyhow, you may worry about that tomorrow. You are injured, your brain waves are irregular, and your blood pressure is slightly higher than average; you need sleep. I will escort you to the nearest zeta-tube."

"Oh thank goodness." Zephyr sighed as she summoned Winds to carry her into flight, Red Tornado forming his signature tornado around his bottom half as to do the same. "My bones feel like they're on fire, I definitely bruised my ribs."

"That would explain your lagged inhaling."

"Are you seriously still scanning my organs? While we're talking?"

And with that, the two air-manipulators were off, flying through the air in the direction of the next zeta-tube station. They flew in silence, Zephyr too tired to instigate conversation as the adrenaline in her system began to dissipate.

"Your heartbeat is decreasing even more." Red Tornado stated. "Are you light-headed?"

"Just tired, I believe this is an adrenaline crash." Zephyr explained. Red Tornado did not respond. "I'm curious Red, you've never scanned my vitals this vigorously before. Did you get an update you're anxious to show off?"

There was a moment of silence in which the duo landed at the zeta-tube. Stopping, the younger of the two looked up at her elder, awaiting his response

"When we arrived back to the Hall of Justice to see that the four of you had disappeared, then heard that there had been a number of explosions at Cadmus, all of us became concerned that something had happened." Red Tornado explained. "When we arrived at the scene to witness that the building had imploded, most likely with you inside…"

Slowly peeling off her mask, Lina looked up at her mentor with her azure gaze. A small, comforting smile adorning her face as she lifted a pale hand to touch Red Tornado's cool metal arm.

"Don't get all soft on me now _Mon grand_." The girl said. "I am alright, all in one piece, nothing to be worried about. I'm a big, strong superhero thanks to you, remember? I can handle myself. And although I am sorry for making you worry, you must admit you had it coming. I mean...lying to me? Really?"

"It is Justice League policy not to tell anyone about the Watchtower." Red Tornado explained, causing Lina to drop her hand in order to cross her arms.

"A policy that broke the mentor-protege trust between five groups of people today." Lina countered. "I understand why you did not tell me, however we need to be more open with one another. That's part of this whole 'growing to understand people' ordeal, _non_? So...can we make a deal? No more dangerous rebelling for me, if you promise not to ever lie to me again."

Another moment, then the robot nodded.

"I believe that is a fair and logical proposition."

Smiling, the small girl gave her mentor a quick hug to close the deal before pulling away and putting her mask back on.

"Good, I'm glad we have that settled. I really don't like being mad at you."

"Although I do not feel, I would not describe the...reaction your anger elicits as 'pleasant'."

Zephyr giggled. "Yes Mr. Robot. I'll see you later, yes?"

"Yes, possibly tomorrow evening or the following day. But ensure that you get many hours of sleep until then."

"Yes sir." Zephyr nodded, before stepping into the zeta-tube. "You try to take it easy as well."

"**Recognized: Zephyr, B04**."

The zeta-tube let out in a location Lina knew all too well by now. A cobblestone building, an old and abandoned storage space on an empty plot of land owned by an anonymous organization.

This particular zeta-tube was installed when Zephyr officially became a hero, as the closest one apart from it was in Paris: a half-hour trip away on foot that wasn't overly efficient. Lina would forever be grateful for the League and Star Labs for installing it, as it was such a short trip to and from her home.

The empty field of overgrown grass that surrounded the building was also familiar to Lina, it's Earthy scent coating the cool breeze. Lina extended her hand, feeling the calm gust of wind rush through her fingers. The soft murmuring it voiced wasn't clear enough to hear, but it acted as a kind of relaxing white noise to the girl who listened. To match the beauty of the terrain, the early morning sky stretched over the field like a tent in a way, the dark blues of the West mixing with the brilliant orange and pinks that barely broke over the horizon.

Overall, the entire scenery was peaceful. Especially compared to Lina's past few hours.

Taking one last deep breath to sink in the feeling, Lina summoned her Winds and pushed off the ground. It was only a five minute flight before she came across her destination, a small two-story house in the heart of a fenced-in plot of land. The plot wasn't too large, but enough for two fair-sized fields and a satisfactory-sized barn not too far behind the house. The house itself was welcoming, the off-white exterior accented by the dark roof and paneling, a chimney on top that was billowing smoke, and lots of windows to let in the light, most of which were decorated by windowsill planters. The front door, possibly one of Lina's favorite material things about the property, was painted a bright, sunshiny yellow that seemed to call out to people to enter it.

Lina, spotting the living room window where she could just make out the sight of a brunette boy sitting on a couch, angled her flight towards it and pushed open the glass. The Winds gave Lina one last push before she landed soundly on the hardwood floors of her living room.

Lifting her hands above her head, she showed off a giant smile and tipped her chin up.

"Ta-da!"

"_A double backflip would have been better_."

Peeling off her mask, Lina sent a bitter look to the boy sitting on the couch in front of her. Leo had hardly looked up from his book at his sister's entrance before promptly going back to his page.

"_I bruised my ribs in an imploding building less than an hour ago, cut me some slack_." Lina huffed back in her mother-tongue. "_What is with everyone critiquing my landing_?"

"_Oh? What building?_" Leo asked, still not looking up.

"_You wouldn't care, I didn't do a double backflip to escape it._" Lina walked up to grab Leo's teacup, taking a long sip of the hot liquid inside.

"_Fair enough_." Leo sighed. "_How was the tour thing? By the fact that it hasn't been all over the news I'm assuming the Hall of Justice wasn't the building that imploded._"

"_Not great, it definitely didn't go according to plan. Speedy quit." _Lina explained, yawning largely as she began to walk up the stairs that lead up to the second floor.

"_Roy? That's upsetting to hear."_

Lina didn't respond as she began to peel off her uniform.

"_Oh, and best not to mention the imploding building and bruised ribs to Calvin. You know how he gets."_ The youngest Dubois sibling called out. "_Minding he ever decides to come home…"_

"_Don't worry, I won't_." Lina called back. "_I remember the broken arm incident last year._" And with that, Lina closed the door to her room behind her, leaning against it and exhaling a deep sigh in the process.

"_I should really shower…"_ Lina muttered to herself, but instead proceeded to lift her body off the wooden door and continue stripping off her uniform. "_I'll just wash my sheets tomorrow._"

After landing her cropped cloak on the floor, and peeling off her gold boots and matching white and gold bodysuit, the cool air that hit her body was both refreshing and mildly uncomfortable. Deciding to just throw on a large t-shirt she'd stolen from Calvin, Lina gave her wounds a quick check in the long mirror beside her dresser.

Along with a few small bumps and bruises was a huge, purple bruise on her left side, a gash that had already scabbed over on her shoulder, some swollen muscle in the area around her right hip, and another large cut running from her thigh to her bellybutton that had mostly scabbed, but not quite. If not for the thick fabric of her uniform, Lina was sure her injuries would have bled through. She was mostly thankful however that the gashes were shallow, as they probably would have led to severe blood loss if the had been any deeper.

Taking some of the disinfectant wipes from the first aid kit on her dresser, Lina decided to sit and clean the gashes. The sweetness of sleep would have to wait a little bit longer.

As she gave the bloody cuts some attention however, her mind began to wander. She thought over the past 24 hours. The lies, Roy quitting, Cadmus, Superboy, the newly founded team, the League's poor reactions to everything…

Sure, Roy had always been a hothead since day one. And yes, he had admitted to Lina and Kaldur on a separate occasion that he felt that he had outgrown the title of 'Speedy' and was growing tired of being Ollie's 'sidekick'...but never would Lina have ever guessed that Roy would just up and quit like he had.

And what about Superboy? The poor kid had essentially just been living for a little under a day and already he's been exposed to what it feels like to have your mind completely engulfed with rage and bloodlust, made new allies, and been abandoned by a supposed parental figure. He had no experience in the real world outside of his pod, and now he was being thrown into the chaotic and whirlwind life of being a superhero.

And this team that Lina had landed herself a part in. What of it? Sure, she could understand why the boys put their foot down. She was more than happy to jump on the anger-train back at the Hall. But forming their own team? Was that not a little extreme? Lina trusted her friends of course, and with Kaldur's level-headedness and maturity they were sure to at least have some kind of clear guidance, Lina knew that firsthand. But the whole thing made the butterflies in her stomach go mad. She only prayed they had all made the right choices today.

But that brought a new train of thought into the girl's mind. Why had she decided to join the team at all if she was so skeptical about it? It had seemed like the right thing to do, stand alongside her friends. But there had to be something bigger than that if she was willing to risk her mentorship and connection to the Justice League for it. What was her motivation for all of this? _Why_ had she chosen this path?

Throwing out the now-bloody napkins, Lina walked over to her uniform again and unlocked another hidden compartment to take out her cellphone. Opening it, she easily found the number she was looking for and typed out a quick message.

_Hey Hothead, _

_If you need to talk, you know where I live. Just not right now, need sleep. Have a crazy story for you though, so text me back._

_-Lina_

_Ps. I'm sorry again for the name slip earlier today. I know you weren't really angry, but still._

Once she pressed 'send' Lina fell onto her bed, and dug herself into the covers. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was gone.

Translations:

"Drageur": French term meaning 'flirt'

"Mon Grand": A term of endearment for friends, meaning 'big guy'


	7. In Which There Are Family and Friends

A/N: I'm so sorry for missing a week guys. Life's been chaotic this past couple weeks with school and my new pupper. Anyways, on with the story

**Deléson, France **

**July 6**

**15:00**

Deléson is known by few as a rural pearl amongst a city oyster. Sprawling farmland for as long as the eye can see, one's sight line only obstacled by the patches of large trees and small cottage-esk houses, a calm river twisting through the town that was commonly accompanied by groups of children playing. All this in a decently short distance from the beautiful and bustling city of Paris. So although the community of Deléson was close, and more than happy to trade resources with one another, anyone could easily go to the neighbouring capital to pick up anything they couldn't get locally.

This was one upside that the Dubois family took advantage of quite often, especially the middle child amongst them.

Evangélina Dubois was quite familiar with the road that lead in and out of Paris to Deléson, and for good reason. For one, the school she had been going to for the better part of two years was located just at the border. And although that particular building was far from her favorite, it was definitely a staple in her life. But then it came to her legitimate favorite building in the city: the Martín Dance Studio.

As much as her 'extracurriculars' helped her move on from her accident, it was the dance studio that kept her sane. When Lina woke up from her coma and was forced into a normal civilian life, or as normal as it would be with the aforementioned extracurriculars, she found one of the biggest holes in her life, save for her mother, was her act. When she effectively became a simple girl from a simple French town, she could practically feel her muscles cry to her every minute to be pushed to their full potential. To fly through the air without the Winds. To fly with only her own strength, endurance, and maybe a little chalk.

Meeting and befriending her only friend outside of her second life helped fix that. It gave her a reason to bike into Paris every day. It gave her free access to a dance studio for an hour, maybe two if she really begged.

And the beautiful fresh air Lina was exposed to on that hour-long one-way bike trip, plus the gorgeous scenery that still managed to catch her by surprise after years of living in it, was more than a fair price to pay for a sense of pseudo-normalcy.

So yes, it was safe to say that whenever the Dubois family was in need of something that they couldn't simply trade one of their many friendly neighbours for, Lina was often the one to volunteer to go into town and get it.

Even if she often dreaded the final stretch, having to balance a load of full paper bags into the house by herself since nobody on the property bothered to answer to her call for help.

So much for a loving family.

Upon giving up on trying to twist the handle herself, Lina resorted to kicking on the yellow wood of the house's front door.

"_If any of the seven people that sleep on this plot of land would be so kind as to simply open a door, it would very much appreciated!" _Lina shouted for good measure, a tone of underlying annoyance in her voice.

A moment and lots of muffled shuffling later, the door swung open to reveal a pale, slightly wrinkled, dirt-covered face.

"Sorry Miss, didn' hear you pull in." The thick Cockney accent of Travis Jones rushed as he gave the much younger girl a lop-sided grin which accented his missing teeth.

Huffing in a deep breath, Lina tightness her grip on her bags and waddled into her family home. "Not a problem Travis, I wasn't angry at you. Thank you for getting the door though. Do you know if my brothers are here and alive?"

Travis ruffled his dull red hair, which released a couple specks of dirt from the strands. "Pretty sure they're both upstairs Miss, and breathin' last I heard."

Lina dropped the bags onto the kitchen counter, which sat just by the front door, and exhaled deeply. "I swear those two...you're our field-hand, our friend. Not our butler. I feel bad that you had to get the door, and for yelling."

"Like I said Miss, no problem. Happy to help, I am. I was just heading out anyways, just finished lunch y'see. All of us did, including your Dad. I think he's back out in the fields, you want me to get him for you? Or I could help put away some of them there bags if you'd like."

"That's really not necessary Travis, but thank you." Lina smiled. "And don't worry about my Father, I'll see him at dinner, as I presume I'll also be seeing you?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way Miss." Travis said, nodding his head in farewell before ducking out the door. Sighing once more, Lina went to putting away her recent purchases. But not before letting out a loud, strong "Boys!".

There was a number of thumps, some colourful words in various languages, more thumps, and then the patter of socked feet running down the wooden steps that connected the two levels of the house. Those feet, Lina was not surprised to see, were accompanied by a tall, well-built body and a head of golden blonde. However, that body was missing something very important.

"_Calvin," _Lina frowned at her older brother, "_where is your shirt?" _

The eldest of the Dubois siblings looked down at his bare chest, then shrugged. "_I was warm._"

"_So you decided to go around half-naked?" _Lina's eyebrows furrowed even further.

Calvin seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. Lina, used to her brother's antics by now, simply shook her head in disbelief. Unzipping the thin pullover that she had been wearing, one that had been his a few months back, she threw the article of clothing at the blonde.

"_Ah, so I finally get this back then?"_ Calvin asked, smirking as he slipped the pull-over on.

"_For now."_ Lina smirked back. Her remark was quickly followed by the frantic footsteps of much lighter feet. Once the footsteps had made their way to the bottom of the stairs, a very flushed and disoriented-looking Leo made his appearance. The barely thirteen year old snarled as he directed his eyes to Lina, but pointed an accusing finger at Calvin.

"_He shoved me into upstairs closet and locked the door! I had to pick the lock to get out!" _The young boy exclaimed, causing Lina to glare at Calvin. The eldest simply shrugged.

"What?" Calvin said nonchalantly, switching to English. "We all know he's 'in the closet' already."

"**Calvin**!" Lina exclaimed.

Leo was left massaging his temples in annoyance as he took a seat next to Calvin. "'_Come out to your family', they said. 'It'll make everything some much easier', they said."_ He mumbled under his voice, interweaving French and English as he spoke, something he did when he was thinking.

After taking a moment to rub the bridge of her nose, Lina focused back on her brothers. "_I'm making a late lunch, have the two of you eaten_?"

Both boys shook their heads, and Lina sighed as she began her cooking. As she prepared the meal, conversation flowed easily among her and her siblings. They spoke of the students Leo had volunteered to tutor during the summer holidays, Calvin's new girlfriend, Lina's new team and their adventures in Cadmus, and a new film they all wanted to see together.

When he was a boy, Calvin's blonde hair had always been cut short as to remove any possible fire-hazard. His face had always been chiseled and fairly attractive-looking as a young man, from the age of 16 he'd picked up quite a talent for flirting with female audience members. A long nose, bushy eyebrows, strong jaw, and-as was rampant amongst the Dubois family- lots of freckles. These past few years however, Calvin had let his hair grown so it nearly brushed his chin and fell into his eyes-the same eyes as his sister's. He had achieved a sort of American surfer look with his naturally wavy hair. He'd also filled out a bit which had gained him a fair amount of muscle mass. But what always concerned Lina was the growing number of little scars that would occasionally pop up on his face every once in a while. Nothing so major as to alarm suspicion, but enough to catch Lina's attention.

Leo however, had done very little to change in appearance these past few years. While Calvin and Lina had both taken up certain physical exercises that had led them to become bigger (moreso Calvin than Lina, much to her dismay), Leo had become more studious and dedicated to reading and indoor activities. Although the rapid growth spurts that came with puberty had made him fairly tall, taller than his sister at the absolute very least, and he was lanky and almost skeletal-looking. A marvel in fact, as the boy would eat as much as some of the family's pigs. To add to the contrast between him and his brother, Leo had strictly kept his hair shortly trimmed in an almost buzz-cut that showed off his pointed featured and elf-like ears. His eyes, wide and hazel much like their mother's, were framed by large, circular glasses which took up more than its share of his face.

As Lina gazed at her brothers, a sense of love and pride filled her chest and a small smile pulled her lips thin. Every single one of the family members had taken the accident hard, and who could blame them? Losing their mother, having one of the children fall into a coma that she may not have ever woken up from, having to leave the circus their families had been a part of for 5 generations and their friends/family because of the ghosts that lingered. It was terrible. But slowly and surely, they were each recovering.

Sure, Lina thought, Markus had driven himself head-first into his work, Calvin had become an adrenaline junkie and would disappear to Goodness-knows-where for hours at a time, and Leo isolated himself into his schoolwork and books. But they were recovering, and they were together. At the end of the day, that was what mattered.

Lina's thoughts were interrupted by her phone buzzing in her pocket. Placing the lid on the pot she had been stirring, she took out the device and opened it to see that it was simply a text from her friend.

_Hey Lina,_

_Sorry to hear I missed you at the studio this morning. I have a new CD I've been meaning to hand out to you, you'll love it. I think there's one song you would really love to dance to. I'm working the closing shift tomorrow if you want to drop by and pick it up._

_-Q_

"_A message from a lover?" _Calvin asked, tipping his head forward.

"_Quinn, actually." _Lina responded, quickly typing out '_yes, absolutely!' _and pressing send before placing her phone back in her pocket.

"_Boring._" Leo hummed, a mischievous smirk pulling at his lips.

"_Indeed, for a moment I thought you were actually going to be exciting, Evangélina_." Calvin smirked as well.

Lina frowned at her brothers. "_I'm a hero with superpowers_." She argued. "_What more do you want from me?"_

Both brothers just shrugged and fell back into their previous conversation. Lina simply rolled her eyes and finished preparing the meal, scooping the thick liquid into a trio of bowls once it was complete.

"_Smells delectable."_ Calvin smiled as Lina placed the bowls in front of the two of them.

"_Boeuf bourguignon_?" Leo asked, and Lina nodded as she began to spoon into her own bowl.

"A _cheap version. We had some leftover beef and vegetables that I thought I should use."_

"_Definitely no complaints here." _Calvin laughed as he dug in.

As the three ate, they continued to speak to one another. Except this time, the conversation was more disjointed and they bounced from random topic to random topic, jokes and laughter thrown in at points which would make the occasional person almost choke on their meal. But sadly, their conversation was cut off by someone walking through the door. A strongly-built middle-aged man, in his mid-40s, with a weathered face full of wrinkles, bright freckles, salt and pepper hair, and blue eyes.

"_Ah, so the rumors are true."_ Markus Dubois smiled happily. "_All three of my children are home and together for once. I'm surprised nobody's bleeding on the ground yet."_

"_Eat first, then fighting to the death."_ Calvin laughed, lifting his spoon towards his father before bringing it to his mouth.

"_Lina made boeuf bourguignon_, _if you'd like some."_ Leo offered.

"_Thank you, but I already ate." _Markus said, patting his stomach as he walked over to where his children sat. "_Besides, eating too much of Lina's cooking will make me even fatter."_

Lina rolled her eyes as her brothers snickered, Markus simply placed a leathered hand on his daughter's head before walking away.

"_I'm just here to pick up something in the back. Keep the fighting to the death to a minimum, alright? I don't need the house being thrown up into the sky, or my walls painted in blood." _

"_Yes sir."_ The trio of teens said in unison as their father disappeared into the back of the house. Once the man came back and left to go through the front door however, he seemed to freeze, then turn back to Lina.

"_Ah, Evangélina, it's for you_."

Frowning, Lina stood and walked over to the door only to find a tall, strong-looking, blonde woman standing there clad in a pair of fishnet stockings, shorts, a corset, a leather jacket, and a stern look.

"Black Canary, it's nice to see you again." Markus nodded, slightly apprehensive towards the woman.

Dinah Lance gave off a strict 'I can kill you with just a look' vibe, even in a fairly small uniform. Strong, defined muscles from years and years of tough training and even tougher mentors, scars littering her pale skin like sprinkles on a cake, and a cold grey gaze that could freeze many people more than most ice-themed heroes or villains. To say that you didn't want to mess with her would be an understatement. But after two years of knowing her, Lina knew that there was a much softer side in her. Especially around the French girl herself, Roy, or her long-term boyfriend Ollie AKA Oliver Queen AKA Green Arrow.

"You too Mr. Dubois, it's been too long." The blonde smiled back, then focused on Lina. "Hey kid."

"Hey Dinah." Lina replied, sheepishly smiling.

"Sorry to interrupt Markus," Dinah smiled, turning back to the older man, "but I was wondering if I could steal Lina away for an hour or two? We have some things I'd like to discuss."

Markus sighed, but remained smiling. "Of course not, as long as it's okay with her."

Lina smiled to her father and nodded. "I'm not really very hungry anyways."

"So much for all three of us being together for once." Calvin snorted loudly from back in the kitchen.

"Too good to be true!" Leo added, chuckling just as loudly.

"In that case, best to get some training gear on Girly." Dinah said, sharp gaze meeting Lina's much softer one. "We've got some grounding to do."

Lina let out a small, quiet, whine of anxiety and woe as she made her way upstairs.

"I'll be home in time to make supper." She called from to her family from the stairs. "Although whether or not I'll able to move, we'll have to wait and see…"

"_Have fun being_ _grounded_." Calvin called back.

"_Don't get too bruised up_." Leo added. "_Or else how will you handle our fighting to the death?_"

**Grant's Gym**

**June 6**

**12:23**

Lina felt the air rush out of her diaphragm as she plummeted onto the hard floor below her, her body seizing for a split-second in reaction to the sheer force.

"I'm not saying you guys were wrong." Dinah argued as she paced slightly over Lina's fallen body. "Just that you should have taken more precautions. What if you guys had died down there? We never would have known!"

"I'm fairly certain you would have figured it out." Lina gasped, barely spitting out the words as she tried to regain her breath. "Also, ow."

"You're getting good at using your opponent's strength against them, which is good. And your defense has definitely improved." Dinah nodded. "But you need to up your offense, I know you can do better."

Lina took a deep breath and picked herself up, taking another fighting stance as Dinah did the same.

This time, it was Lina who made the first attack; lunging forward with a strong punch, which Dinah easily blocked and countered with her own. Following suit Lina blocked the punch, but followed it by latching onto the older woman's arms and using them as leverage hold the woman and kick Dinah in the stomach, using the attack as a spring-board to flip over, landing in a crouching position as Dinah staggered back, winded but safe do to the armour in her corset.

"Better?" Lina asked.

"You're still using mostly defense-strong attacks, you need to learn how to simply attack your opponent as well." Dinah explained, coming at Lina again. Grabbing onto her shoulders, Dinah moved to force Lina onto the ground but the younger girl rolled; causing the two to summersault until Lina could push her legs up, kicking Dinah off of her and using the momentum to kick-up to a standing position. However, Dinah seemed to plan for this, and from her position on the floor where Lina had kicked her to, she spun her body around and knocked the younger fighter's legs out from under her. Once again, Lina found her body hitting the floor.

"If your opponent realizes early on that your a defensive fighter, they'll try to overpower you and get the upper hand. You need to be able to adapt and switch between offensive and defensive when the time comes in order to keep your opponent on their toes."

Lina let a few curses, varying in language, escape her lips as she ran her wrapped-up hands over her face.

"I'm a dancer Dinah, an acrobat. I'm agile and fast. Not strong. I'm no Superman, I'm not able to take a missile to the chest and still punch out an army." Lina groaned, sitting up. "I get that I'm being 'grounded' but isn't this a little much? We've been at it for hours!"

Although she usually didn't mind Dinah's tough-love during sparring, two hours of getting slammed into Ted Grant's gym fighting rings' floor was making Lina irritable.

"It doesn't matter that you're not Superman, Lina." Black Canary spoke calmly as she walked over and offered Lina a hand. "I know you and your potential. I know you can do this. And I know that no matter who or what you are, as a hero: you need to be able to survive in a fire fight."

As Lina took Dinah's hand and the woman pulled her up, the famous Black Canary fell back into her fighting stance. "Now," the blonde woman tossed a little bit of hair that had fallen over her shoulder away, "let's try this again."

"_Please!" _Lina heard a voice plea. "_Use us! You will certainly win the battle if you summon us!"_

Lina shook her head. This was a strict fist-only battle. No Winds, no Canary Cry.

She was going to win this one, and it was going to be by herself.

Taking a running start, Lina made to give Dinah a strong right hook, which was once again blocked. The younger of the two didn't wait for a counter attack however, as she went to knee her trainer in the stomach. Dinah must have sensed this however, as the woman swiftly took her free hand and used it to push Lina to the side by the head. Realizing that if she didn't act fast, the battle would be over; Lina swung her head around Dinah's hand and, while the older woman was distracted, directed a strong punch into her corset-covered side. This caused the blonde to not only release Lina's arm, but also to stagger to the side. Not wasting a moment, Lina straightened up and, after running at Dinah again, put all her strength into delivering a left hook. This time, the punch met its mark, and Dinah was dazed enough for Lina to knock her feet out from under her with an easy lower roundabout kick.

As Dinah fell onto her forearms and hands, she watched as Lina unclenched her fists, took a deep breath, and released the tension in her body.

"Now _that_ was better." Dinah smiled.

"I, uh…" Lina massaged her arm, where her muscles were still tensed. "I guess something you said struck a chord with me."

"Like I said, you have the potential in you to be a fairly ferocious fighter. We have to work on really unlocking that. For now though…" Dinah spoke as she kicked-up, "Let's take a break, we've been at it for a while."

Dinah walked over to the side of the ring and jumped over the railing, but Lina stood there; still rubbing her arm with a dazed-over look in her eyes.

"Kid?" Dinah asked, looking back at her trainee.

Snapping out of her gaze, Lina whirled around, looking startled.

"_Pardon?_"

"You alright? You looked like you spaced out there for a second." Dinah asked.

Lina paused, going to nod, but then hesitated and looked down at her first. "It's just...I thought of something from Cadmus...Something that happened when Blockbuster-Desmond was trying to clone us…"

Lina suddenly shook her head, shaking the thought away. "Nevermind, it's nothing."

Dinah raised an eyebrow, and watched cautiously as Lina flew over the walls of the ring and landed beside her. "Alright then, if you say so…"

The two women took drinks of water in silence for a moment, the elder watching the younger carefully before deciding to break the silence.

"So…about Roy."

Lina pulled her water bottle away from her lips, turning her gaze to the blonde woman that stood in front of her. Dinah crossed her arms, leaning back against the ring in front of the young brunette.

"I've texted him a couple times." Lina answered. "He only said that he's safe and still living in his apartment."

"That's good." Dinah sighed. "The same thing as Kaldur, and it's better than anyone else has managed to get out of him. Then again, that's not really a surprise. You guys have always managed to get him to at least somewhat listen."

Lina shrugged. "He doesn't listen to anyone, let's be real."

Dinah chuckled lowly, nodding. "Yea, but he'll at least hear the two of you out."

Lina smiled, but then noticed Dinah's tone and her smile faded to a look of understanding. "You want me to hunt him down."

"Just to check on him!" Dinah assured. "You know how he gets when he's determined, and without any of us to make sure he takes care of himself…"

"I won't try to change his decision." Lina said, narrowing her eyes. "I may not agree with him, but he's made his choice to go solo. I'm not going to be used to manipulate one of my best friends."

Dinah kept Lina's gaze, cold metallic silver burning into bright azure. "I won't ask you to."

**Star City**

**June 7**

**00:35**

Roy Harper entered his small studio apartment through the window, ducking under the window sill and being sure not to apply too much pressure to his left wrist, which was in pain and possibly sprained.

Pulling off his quiver and throwing it and his red compact bow on the couch, the almost 18 year old walked over to his kitchen in order to get his first aid kit, but was promptly stopped by the sound of something dropping onto the floor.

Freezing just outside of the doorway, the redhead strained his ears towards the kitchen to listen for anymore noise from the other side of the wall. When he heard muffled whispering, he jumped into action.

As quietly as possible, Roy dashed back over to the couch. Picking up his bow and hurriedly shouldering his quiver, the archer notched an arrow and quickly, but being aware of any of the creaking floorboards, strolled back over to the kitchen. He put his back to the wall separating him, and the trespasser on the other side.

Listening closely again, he deduced the intruder couldn't be very big by the sound of their feet against the old kitchen tile. Probably just reaching 120ibs, and by the sound of the person's muttering they were probably female.

"Somewhat rare for a cat burglar", Roy thought, "but not unheard of".

As the sound of metal being unsheathed, the redhead straightened up. He knew that sound all too well, the sound of someone drawing a knife.

Pulling back the string of his bow, Roy whipped around the corner and aimed the arrow at the intruder's chest. Glaring at the figure, it took a moment before he recognized who it was.

"...is that an arrow pointed at my chest, or are you just happy to see me?"

Exhaling out all the tension in his shoulders, Roy relaxed his arms and bow. After giving the adrenaline a moment to get out of his brain, he looked back up at the tiny brunette standing in his kitchen, holding a knife in one hand and an apple in the other. She looked mildly surprised, but not the usual fear one would have upon having an arrow ready to fire at their chest.

"Lina, I swear to God I was ready to shish kabob your tiny ass!" Roy growled. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You gave me a key, remember?" Lina asked with a raised eyebrow, dropping the knife to dig into her bra and pull out a ring with a couple keys hanging on it. One in particular had 'R' written in red nail polish. "Last year...when you bought this place? And you told me I was welcomed anytime."

Roy took another deep sigh, dropping his bow and quiver again, leaning them against the wall.

"At the time I didn't think you'd _break into_ my apartment." He huffed. "And do you care to explain _why_ you're in my kitchen? Isn't it early morning in France right now?"

"Technically it's not breaking in if you have a key given to you by the owner." Lina shrugged, then motioned to the food surrounding her on almost every one of the kitchen's surfaces. "And I brought food, hence: kitchen."

Roy furrowed his eyebrows and stepped into the kitchen, eyeing the food cautiously. From what he could tell there was some kind of soup cooking on one stove element and some vegetables steaming on another, there were a few bags of dried fruit in a basket on top of the microwave, a casserole in the oven, fresh bread in a basket, and rice pudding in a bowl in front of Lina.

"You brought a buffet." Roy corrected, shaking his head. "Lina, you didn't have to-I _have _food."

"Oh yeah, I dropped by late last night to see what kind of food you had. You were still out on patrol." Lina pointed a quick finger as she strolled over to his fridge and opened it to reveal it's near-empty shelves. "A pizza box with a single piece inside, several sauces that have been here since you moved in, a nearly expired carton of milk, and some dried up spinach. Not including all the old, stale, and moldy things I threw out earlier."

Lina whipped back around to Roy, planting her hands on her waist. "And so, I got up early this morning, got some old stuff from my fridge, plus some extra things from yesterday's pickings, and made you some actual food that won't go bad for a month and that you can eat as you like. _De rien._"

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose, dumbfounded. "Lina, I appreciate all this. I do. But...you're not my mother! And you have a family of five to feed, _plus_ farm hands, _plus_ trading goods."

Lina stepped towards Roy, looking him dead in the eye. "You're my family too Roy, and if you're going to be going at this alone then I need to make sure you're going to do it as healthily as possible. It's summer, harvest time. My father, brothers, farm hands, and I have more than enough." Lina, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, raised a hand and peeled off Roy's domino mask, revealing the dull blue eyes underneath looking right back at her. "Besides, Dinah told me to check up on you. So technically, I'm like your substitute-mother."

Roy sighed yet again, but this time in resignation, and then gave Lina a small smile. "Thank you." He finally admitted, and Lina smiled back at him.

"Much better." She chirped, then she caught sight of the limp wrist at Roy's side. Immediately, she gently took hold of it and turned it over. Roy cringed at the twinge of pain that shot up through his arm, but it was dampened when the soft but calloused flesh of Lina's hand clasped over the joint. She began petting the bone as if she were scanning it, blue eyes carefully looking over his skin. "What happened?"

Roy sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to brush it off with her. "A guy I was fighting hit it with the butt of his gun. Just a sprain though, nothing to worry about."

Lina sighed, then her eyes squinted as her hands changed their grasp. Roy was about to ask what she was thinking, but then she grabbed onto his elbow, twisted, and a larger spike of pain shot through his bone and into his shoulder-blade. The archer bellowed out curse words and pried his hand away to cradle it as Lina walked over to the first aid kit that sat in a nearby cabinet.

"What the fuck was that for?" Roy yelled.

"It wasn't a sprain, it was dislocated." Lina explained as she walked back and methodically took his wrist back into her own. "Can you move your fingers?"

After a moment in which he pathetically pouted, Roy raised one finger in particular. "Looks like it."

Lina rolled her eyes, but couldn't help a small smirk that itched at her lips as she began to wrap the wrist in the bandage she had collected from the first aid kit. "Smartass." She mumbled.

"You love me anyways." Roy smirked back.

"Somehow." Lina stuck out her tongue as she finished tying up her friend's appendage. After she was finished, she turned away and floated back over to the bowl of pudding and the apple on the counter. "Now, go shower and get rid of that terrible excuse of facial hair on your face and we'll eat and talk together, _c'est bien_? You have to be careful with that wrist, but it should be good in the water."

"Yes, _mother_." Roy laughed and walked back out of the doorway, picking up his weapons on the way out. But at the last minute, he turned back around. "Hey Kid?"

Lina turned around. "_Oui?" _She asked.

For a moment, Roy thought hard. But then he finally spoke. "I'm sorry for the way I acted the other day." He explained. "Not for quitting or confronting the League, but…for what I said to you guys. You guys are ready, more ready than I ever was at your age. You four...you're the good eggs."

Lina smiled, then nodded. "Yes, we are." Then, the girl turned back to the apple she was cutting. "And you are more than forgiven, by all of us. Now go! You smell of sweat, and that horrible 5 o'clock shadow really does look terrible."

Laughing, Roy shook his head and continued down towards his bathroom; leaving Lina to finish her preparation.

Translations:

_Boeuf bourguignon:_ a French stew with beef and vegetables

_De rien: _You're welcome


	8. In Which Loyalties Are Formed

A/N: Super short one this week guys, only about 3k words. This is probably the shortest chapter in this series, so I'm going to try and get the next one out ASAP to make up for it ;). Anyways, thanks again for reading. I'd love to get all of your feedback in the comments if you're willing, positive or negative. I'm always looking for ways I can improve this story.

**Deléson, France**

**July 8**

**16:02**

As Lina waited just outside of the old building on the empty field lot, she found herself floating anxiously outside it's threshold and pulling anxiously at a strand of hair.

The cool early afternoon breeze that blew around her was lovely for floating, but it was also very cold and gave the French girl goosebumps despite the denim jacket she wore. The girl yanked at the hem of her sundress, which she was now regretting wearing with the wind.

Casual street attire, or as Wally like to call them 'civvies', felt alienish on her flesh. Being in the presence of the Justice League and her comrades without her uniform? That just seemed odd to her. She felt that it blended the line between 'Lina Dubois' and 'Zephyr'. So much so that, just to add a little bit of normalcy, she had worn the gold sash that usually was worn around the waist of her uniform. It helped ground her, and she was thankful for it.

As the zeta-tube beside her whirred to life and announced Red Tornado's designation, Lina suddenly snapped to attention. Her hands dropped to her sides, her shoulders straightened, and her feet made contact with the ground. When the shape of a large man began to appear, Lina to an excited step toward the figure.

"So?" Lina asked once Red Tornado had fully formed. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "What's happening?"

"I am to escort you to the decided location, where you will be given the 'run down'." The robot explained.

Lina quirked an eyebrow, tipping her head to the side like an animal. "And what location is this?"

Red Tornado paused, then replied. "Happy Harbor."

Lina's mind automatically began to race. Happy Harbor? Why did that name sound so familiar? She must have read it in the League's files somewhere…but what made it special.

_"Oh, the sea currents are so nice there…"_ A cheerful voice rang out.

"_So much nicer that the stuffy Paris air._" Another, stricter voice sounded.

Lina paid the voices no mind as she happily bobbed over to the computer, wasting no time as it read of both her and her mentor's names and numbers.

**Mount Justice, Happy Harbor**

**July 8**

**8:30**

Mount Justice.

The answer to Lina's question had been 'Mount Justice'.

The original HQ for the League, before an informant accidentally disclosed their location and it was attacked by the Joker and his evil Joker Venomed Monkeys. Mount Justice appeared to be as advertised, a mountain. But the reality of it lay in the bottom foundation where a hollowed out cave was secured tightly. It was right on the water, so mixed with the smell of wet rock and metal was the salty scent of the sea.

Even inside, Lina could feel the cool yet friendly sea currents. They were marvelous. Almost wonderous enough to distract from the fact that she; along with Kaldur, Robin, Wally, and Superboy, were all standing in a row and being spoken to by the co-leader of the Justice League himself.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary for the Justice League's operations. We are calling it into service again." Batman explained. "Since you five are determined to stay and fight the good fight; you'll do it on League terms."

"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training."

Although she raised an eyebrow and sent a quick glance at her two teachers, Lina felt at ease. She knew both's teaching methods and personal principles. Red would be level-headed, a good den mother, but he also leaves people to do and learn on their own, lets them lead their own lives. He wouldn't try to control the team, he trusted them. And Dinah, although tough, was a great martial arts teacher. She could be the motherly, but strict hand the team needed for adult guidance.

"I will deploy you on missions." Batman explained.

"_Real_ missions?" Robin asked.

"Yes, but covert." The Bat explained.

"The League will handle the obvious stuff." Flash piped in, and then tapped on his lightning-themed insignia. "There's a reason we have these targets on our chests."

"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter." Aquaman explained. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

"_So we're the Justice League's spies now?" _Lina thought to herself. "_Doesn't sound too bad…"_

"The six of you will be that team." Batman finished.

"Cool!" Robin exclaimed, then recoil. "Wait…six?"

Batman turned, and all five teens looked past to see Martian Manhunter stepping forward, accompanied by a young Martian girl. She couldn't have been older than 16 judging by her appearance, green skin the same time as the man beside her, shoulder-length red hair, a face full of freckles, and a tentative but friendly smile. Her outfit was much like the Manhunter's as well, red X on the chest included, only hers appeared to look more like a white t-shirt and blue skirt.

"This is Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece." Batman explained.

"Hello." The Martian girl greeted shyly.

"_Oh mon dieu_! Finally!" Lina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in victory. "We finally get another young, female hero!"

She heard Dinah let out a snort of laughter, and Miss Martian's smile seemed to widen at the welcome. But the moment was cut off by Wally leaning over to Robin and fake-whispering.

"Liking this gig more every minute." He muttered, then raced over to the new recruit. "Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash. That's Zephyr, Robin, Aqualad, Superboy; it's cool if you forget their names."

"I'm honoured to be included." Miss Martian replied with a shy nod.

"_Awww." _Lina thought. "_She's super cute!" _The French girl smiled back and flew closer, taking the alien's hands in her own. "Please, ignore Kid _Mouth_. We're honoured to have you here, seriously."

The green girl blushed, and something seemed to spark in her reddish-hue eyes. "Thank you."

"Hey Superboy!" Robin called out, and Lina turned her head to see that the clone had been the only one not to step up to greet the new girl. Turning away, Lina gently let go of Miss Martian's hands and faced everyone. As Superboy stepped forward, a small blush seemed to grow on the green skin of the Martian. Then, her white t-shirt faded to a dark black, the same tone as the red 'S' shirt the clone wore.

"I-I like your t-shirt." The girl stuttered.

Feeling his gaze on her, Lina looked up to see Kaldur peering down at her. The moment their eyes met, they knew what they both wanted to say.

"_The team has found its couple" _

After a moment where Robin elbowed Superboy in the ribs and Wally slung his arm around the boy of steel's shoulder, Kaldur broke his gaze with Lina to look at everyone.

"Today is the day." He spoke.

And everyone knew that he was right.

As everyone broke off and began to chat; Robin, Wally, Lina, and Kaldur grouped together, the youngest two with a scheming look in their knitted brows.

"We're missing someone." Robin whispered. "We should try to talk to Seedy-Roy-again."

"Once we explain this great gig, he'll have to want to join, right?" Wally asked. "I mean, it's been nearly four days. Surely he's calmed down a little."

Lina and Kaldur looked back to one another, silently communicating. Both of them had reached out to their friend, with varying degrees of success. But the probability that Roy would leave his anger and betrayal behind him and move on…

"We may not have the best chances." Lina shrugged. "But I'm more than willing to try, we have to."

Kaldur nodded. "Agreed. Last we spoke, he was working on getting the best of an illegal weapons smuggling ring, run by a man named 'The Brick'."

"The Brick, real name Daniel Brickwell. One of Green Arrow's rogues." Wally nodded, recalling the man's file. Robin pulled up his holo-watch.

"According to bat/league files, there's been talk on the streets about a new shipment of weapons coming in a little over a week...in Star City." Robin read in a whisper.

"Then Roy will definitely be there." Lina spoke as she propped her hands on her hips.

"And so shall we." Kaldur added, nodding at all of his comrades.

**Star City**

**July 17**

**23:16**

The shipment came just as it had been predicted, located on an old fishermen dock that hadn't been legitimately in-use for upwards of five years. But according to League files, the place was popular amongst gangs for covert overseas shipments. Just like the one that was going down tonight.

There was only a small team handling the illegal weapons, which gave everyone the feeling this wasn't going to be a fair fight.

As two men carried out the first crate, an arrow shot down at their feet and began releasing a thick gas. The men dropped the box, causing one of the guns inside to topple onto the gravel ground, sliding straight to the feet of a man that was easily seven feet tall, and thick with muscle. Dark red skin the colour of baked clay, and light hair pulled into tight dreadlocks; The Brick kicked the gun up into his hands.

Aiming the pistol, The Brick quickly spotted his target. Up on top of a crane, a redheaded male not yet a man, but too old to be a boy. He was dressed in a familiar red and yellow tunic, but the absence of a feathered hat made re his outfit appear incomplete.

"You again!" Brick bellowed. "I'm starting to get insulted Green Arrow's not messing up my operations personally!"

Brick shot at Roy, who easily dodged by flipping onto a nearby piece of metal and as shots continued to fly at him he ran across a bridge, loading up his bow. When the arrow was notched, he whipped around and fired; the arrow meeting its target and blowing up the gun and the air around it.

Brick faltered, looking down at the shredded pieces of cloth hanging from his body that used to be suit.

"Do you know what I pay for for a suit in my size." The giant man bellowed, then turned to the four men beside him. "Scorch the Earth boys."

But just as the men took out their pistols, two of the gangbangers were knocked out by a yellow blur. As the other two directed their aim at the direction the blur had escaped, their guns were knocked out of their hands with flying metal projectiles. The two men went to step back, but they were stopped by a dark-skinned boy with glowing arm tattoos slashing them in the chests with whips made of water.

Brick, angered that he had become outnumbered, dug his hands into the Earth, pulled up a chunk of it, and launched it at the redhead from before.

But just as the boulder of concrete was about to hit the archer, a young girl dressed in yellow and gold flew out and waved her hands, whisking the boulder safely to the edge of the dock.

"Speedy." The girl greeted, throwing a look over her shoulder.

"Zephyr." The archer replied.

As Brick threw another boulder of concrete, Kaldur leapt up and sliced through them with his water swords as if it were warm butter. Just as the young heroes were in the clear, Roy shot an arrow at Brick which erupted into the same thick smoke as before.

"The cave is perfect, it has everything the team will need." Kaldur explained.

"For covert missions." Robin added, popping behind them seemingly from nowhere. "Y'know, spy stuff."

"Plus I have it on good authority that our only supervisor isn't the, as you say, 'helicopter parent' type." Lina explained. "No overbearing Leaguer watching over our shoulders."

"And wait 'till you see Superboy and Miss. Martian…" Wally pipped up, running up the side of the wall they were on, "but I saw her first!"

With a loud and angry roar emitting from their adversary, the five young adults turned to see Brick wrenching another piece of concrete free.

Moving on instinct, Lina flew forward and created a bubble around her and her friends. The boulder crashed into it and promptly crumbled.

Once the bubble was released, Roy ran out and sent a barrage of arrows to the giant-sized man, but they only succeeded in causing him to lose his footing.

"Tell Arrow not to send boys to do a man's job." Brick growled.

_"Uh, rude." _Lina thought, but shook it off.

Roy glared as he loaded another arrow, aiming straight at Brick. Grinning, the man opened his arms to welcome the attack.

"Go ahead."

With a sharp 'thwap' the arrow met the redish man's chest and a thick, lumpy substance emitted from the point, quickly beginning to engulf the man until he could no longer move.

Regrouping around Roy; Robin, Kaldur, and Lina found themselves behind the archer while Wally zoomed in front to observe the damage.

"High-density polyurethane foam, nice!" Wally spoke as he gave the archer a thumbs-up.

Roy gave the boy a curt nod and then turned, walking towards a gap in the shipment containers surrounding them.

"So Speedy, you in?" Robin asked.

There was a long pause as Roy stopped, sending a look to Kaldur and Lina. The look he gave them was friendly, but distant.

"Pass." Now he was addressing everyone. "I'm done letting Arrow and the League tell me what to do. I don't need a babysitter, or a clubhouse to 'hang out' with the other kids. You're just playing their game, this is something they're doing to keep you busy and 'in your place'." As he began to walk away, the shadows seemed to swallow him up. "If you guys want to run around and play Jr. Justice League, be my guest...but I don't want any part in it."

And then he was gone.


	9. In Which There's Another Air-Manipulator

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the small delay, I was majorly procrastinating editing this one. Have to admit: editting is NOT my favorite part of the writing process, but c'est la vie. But enough about me being a lazy writer and on with the story!

**Mount Justice**

**July 18**

**11:16**

"**Recognized: Robin-B01, Kid Flash-B03**."

As the two young boys ran out from the Zeta-Tubes and into the main cavern of Mount Justice, their faces were lit up with excitement

Their energies were practically bouncing off the walls, and their grins only seemed to grow as they neared their three teammates who were standing in the center of the cavern and observing a holographic map.

Upon hearing the boys' footsteps, the others turned. All were dressed in civilian attire, and the excited energy seemed to twirl around all of them in different ways.

"Did you ask him?" Robin asked once they had joined the others.

"What'd he say?" Wally jumped in.

"He's arriving now." Kaldur smiled, obviously also feeling the excitement but hiding it, although poorly, as he tried to act maturely.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Wally exclaimed, and he zipped over to the hangar door nearby. The slanted metal of the ceiling descended upon command, revealing the grassy outside terrain. The others followed quickly behind, lastly of which were Miss Martian and Superboy who glanced at each other briefly before following.

It was less than a moment later that a familiar red robotic man and a small brunette girl descended from the sky just outside of the hangar. The other teens ran up to greet them.

"Zeph'! Red Tornado!" Wally yelled over the sound of the rushing winds that the air-manipulating duo used to fly.

"_Bonjour Mon Chers_!" Lina greeted as her feet made contact with the ground. "Lovely weather here today, no?"

"Greetings." Red Tornado also replied. "Is there a reason you intercept us in front of the cave?"

"We'd hoped you had a mission for us." Kaldur explained.

"I told you they would be asking soon…" Lina muttered in a sing-song voice, smirking at her mentor as she went to stand beside her teammates.

"Missions assignments are The Batman's responsibility." Red Tornado replied automatically, without even missing a beat.

"But it's been over a week and-""You will be tested soon enough." Red Tornado cut Robin off, raising his hand to stop the young boy. "For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company."

"This team is not a social club." Kaldur said, suddenly much more serious.

Lina turned to him, looking slightly surprised. "I mean, it kind of is..."

She didn't get a response.

"No, but I am told social interaction is an important team-building exercise." Red Tornado replied, just as stoically as ever. "Perhaps you can…'keep busy' by familiarizing yourselves with the cave."

As Red Tornado walked away, the teenagers watched him. Very put out. The moment he was out of earshot, Wally punched Robin's arm.

"'Keep busy'." Wally mocked.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin exclaimed, shoulders tensing like an angry cat.

"Ooh!" Miss M suddenly popped up, whirling around to focus on Red Tornado. "I'll find out!"

After her little t-shirt trick upon first meeting the team, the Martian girl had barely shown off any of her powers, so it surprised the lot of them a little that she was suddenly using her telepathy.

But alas, after a moment, her shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry...I forgot he's a machine, inorganic." The girl explained. "I cannot read his mind."

"It's alright Miss M, I believe Robin was simply being sarcastic." Lina smiled.

"Nice try though." Wally smirked as he stepped toward the Martian girl, leaning in towards her as he dug his hands into his pockets. "So...you know what I'm thinking right now?"

Robin elbowed his best friend, scoffing. "We _all _know what we're thinking right now."

There was a pause, and then Kaldur broke the silence with an irritated tone. "And now we tour the _clubhouse_."

Lina raised an eyebrow up at the Atlantean, surprise and worry coating her gaze.

"Well…" Miss Martian piped in, trying to ease the tension. "Superboy and I live here. We can play tour guide."

"Don't look at me." Superboy grumbled, shrugging.

"We won't." Wally cut in, leaning in to focus intently on Miss M. "A private tour sounds much more fun."

"She never said private!" Robin interjected, voice cracking a little.

"A tour would be good for team building, we should _all_ go together." Lina said, covering her concern for the anxious tension with a cheerful smile. To emphasize her point, she wrapped her arm around Kaldur's, who looked down at her but thought little of the action.

And then the Martian girl began leading the way back inside, explaining that the area they were in was technically the front entryway, even though it was hard to find the 'front' of a mountain. As the others walked away Kaldur, however, was stopped by Lina's suddenly-firmed hold on his arm. He halted and looked back, seeing that the girl's gaze was suddenly returned to being one of concern.

"Don't let Roy get to your head." She said, not breaking eye-contact. "We're not a 'junior justice league', and we're not being shoved aside. Plus, social interaction and friendship _is_ very important in a team. I know you know all of this."

Kaldur remained silent for a moment, studying the girl latched onto him. After that moment, he let out a large sigh and some of the tension in his shoulders released.

"Apologies. You're correct." He gave the girl a small smile. "Thank you."

"I'm starting to feel like the, what's his name…'Jiminy Cricket', between you two boys." Lina laughed.

Kaldur looked amused as he watched the giggling girl, but said nothing.

"Are you guys coming or what?" The two teens heard Robin's voice calling from inside.

"_Oui!_" Lina called back. "We're coming!"

The two teens looked at each other for just another moment before Lina detached and dashed over to where her teammates had gone. Kaldur remained for a moment, smiling, and then followed as well.

Throughout the tour, Miss Martian had to endure with Wally and Robin's shenanigans, but surprisingly seemed unphased by them. Although whether that was because she had the patience of a saint, or she just didn't realize they were flirting was anybody's guess. The same boys, as well as Kaldur, would pipe in with little tidbits of information every so often, obviously being very knowledgeable in their years of being proteges. Lina, not knowing anything about the cave that wasn't common knowledge, was restricted to simple giggles and the odd comment about how big/cool the place was. Superboy however, remained silent throughout the entirety of the tour.

"...and this is our back door!" Miss Martian concluded. "The cave is actually comprised of the whole mountain."

"It was hollowed out by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League." Wally explained.

"So why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy asked.

"The cave's secret location was... compromised." Kaldur explained.

"So they traded it in for a tourist trap?" Superboy scoffed. "Yea, that makes sense."

The four 'original proteges' exchanged glances, but said nothing.

"If the villains know of the cave's location...we must be on constant alert!" Miss Martian exclaimed, panicked.

"The bad guys know we know that they know about the cave, so they'll never think to look here." Robin said, taking the girl's hand in his to 'soothe' her. This only seemed to confuse the alien more however.

"What he means is that we're hiding in plain sight." Wally cut in, pushing their hands apart.

M'gann scratched her head, obviously still confused. "Ah, yes. That makes...much more sense…"

Lina couldn't help but shake her head at the boys. Their attempts at 'flirting' were abysmal.

"What they're trying to say, _Cheri_, is that we are okay." The air-manipulating girl stepped up, placing a hand on Miss Martian's arm. "There's no need to be worried. And even if there was, we've got each other's backs."

The alien seemed less confused and the frown between her brows decreased as she nodded. "Thank you, that's really nice to hear!"

Lina glanced at the two younger boys, who looked both mildly put out and intrigued. The girl gave them a small smirk, conveying a clear message.

"That's how it's done"

The moment was cut off however, by Superboy sniffing the air and remarking, "I smell smoke".

"My cookies!" M'gann exclaimed, and promtly flew off in the direction of the kitchen.

Confused but intrigued, the others followed.

The cave's kitchen was open concept, leading into a small living areas with a green plush coach, some chairs, a coffee table, and a TV. The kitchen itself was just as simple, stainless steel appliances, white counters, and wooden cabinets.

With her powers, Miss Martian opened the oven and took out a baking sheet of blackened disks.

"I was trying out Granny Jones' recipe from episodes seventeen of-" Suddenly, the green girl cut herself off. "Uh...nevermind."

Everyone picked up one of the pieces of charcoal, examining it.

"May I suggest a lower heat next time _Petite_?" Lina asked, breaking the cookie in half. "Both the interior and the exterior shouldn't have burnt like this."

The alien girl perked up, smiling and nodding at the advice as she made a mental note. "Ah, okay! Thank you Zephyr!"

"I bet they would've tasted great." Robin smirked as he leaned against the counter, then nodded towards Wally. "He doesn't seem to mind."

Everyone turned to see Wally, ever the walking stomach, scarfing down the blackened baked goods two at a time. Stopping once he had been spotted however, the speedster swallowed the remnants in his mouth and then spoke.

"I...have a serious...metabolism."

Lina couldn't help but snort in laughter, earning her a look from both Kaldur and the ginger.

"I'll...make more." Miss M replied, although it sounded more like a question.

"It was sweet of you to make any." Kaldur nodded.

Miss Martian exhaled in relief and returned the kind smile. "Thanks Aqualad."

"We're off-duty, call me Kaldur'ahm." The Atlantean corrected. "Actually, my friends call me Kaldur."

"Evangélina Dubois." The small girl introduced, giving a little curtsey to the girl with green skin. "Or just 'Lina'."

"I'm Wally." The ginger speedster piped in, putting his head in his hand. "See, I already trust you with my secret ID...unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here." Wally gestured to Robin. "Batman's forbidden 'Boy-Wonder' from telling anyone his real name."

"Mine's no secret!" Miss M grinned, brushing off the exchange and placing her hands on her hips. "It's M'gann M'orzz. But you can call me Megan! It's an Earth name...and I'm on Earth now…"

Her happiness about being on present on the planet Earth was clear, and it seemed to hit everyone-except Superboy who remained slouched in a corner. As he turned to walk away however, he caught Megan's eye. The Martian focused her dark amber eyes on him, so subtly that nobody else noticed.

But everyone else _did_ notice when Superboy tensed, then whirled around to seeth at M'gann.

"Get out of my head!"

As the four 'Earth-dwellers' focused their attention on M'gann, they were suddenly hit with an unfamiliar and sudden stinging.

"_What's wrong? I don't understand._" M'gann's voice rang through each of their heads. "_Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically._"

As the voice ran through her mind, Lina could _feel_ the serum running through her system suddenly slow and almost flicker in and out of existence. As her senses heightened and her mind shifted gears, the noise bouncing around in her skull suddenly felt akin to a jackhammer digging into her brain and down her spine. She let out a cry in pain, her muscles tensing and knees shaking as she cupped her hands over her ears.

The voice was all she could hear.

The pain was all she could focus on.

"M'gann, _stop_." Kaldur's voice cut through everything, and the voice-and then the pain-slowed to a stop. As the medicine in her bloodstream began to correct itself and normalize, Lina could feel a warm, webbed hand carefully touching her upper back. She took deep breaths, and tried to focus on her heartbeat, the warmth of the comforting hand, and the familiar smell of saltwater and sandalwood that wafted around her.

"Things are different here on Earth." Kaldur went on to say. "Here your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy."

"Besides, Cadmus' creepy little g-gnomes left a bad taste in Supey's brain." Wally motioned towards the clone."

M'gann looked humiliated. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"Just **stay out**!" Superboy growled loudly, then huffed over to the seating area.

"Lin', you alright?" Robin muttered, stepping closer to the crouching girl.

Still breathing deeply, Lina nodded. "_Oui_...yes. _Je ne sais-_" Lina cleared her throat. "I suppose my medication does not react well with telepathy."

"I'm _so _sorry…" M'gann whimpered, giving her fellow female a terrified look. She expected the air-manipulating to yell at her, like Superboy had, but instead Lina simply gave her a small smile.

"No, no. It's okay M'gann." She nodded. "You meant no ill will. Goodness knows everyone makes mistakes with their powers from time to time."

Looking relieved, M'gann eased up. The alien tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, mentally running through her recent actions in her head and making mental notes in her head. Only her first real interaction with the team and she was already facing culture shock…

Meanwhile, Lina looked up at Kaldur who was already looking back at her with concern in his eyes. Lina gave him the same smile, and nodded.

"Thank you." She said, and after a moment Kaldur smiled back and removed his hand as Lina straightened up again.

The moment and any residual tension was shattered when Megan suddenly cried out, "Hello Megan!" and slapped her forehead. "I know what we can do!"

As the alien girl zipped through the air and into the nearest corridor, the remaining four teens turned to glance at each other, shrugged, and then followed.

M'gann however, paused in the corridor, then floated back to peer into the seating area.

"Superboy." She called to the Kryptonian who was brooding quietly on a plush chair. "Please?"

"Don't talk to me." He growled back.

There was a moment when M'gann simply looked down in disappointment and guilt, then the Clone looked at her. Seeing her saddened expression, the boy let out a sigh and stood up.

A short while later, all six of them walked into a hangar, a large open space with sleek metallic floors and giant pipes running along the walls. There was a large pool of water washing in from the sea that framed the lifted metal floors. Even if it was cold and grey, the room itself was quite peaceful.

And in the center, the only real thing with colour in the proximity, was a red, egg-shaped, thing about the size of a small car hovering in the air.

"It's my Martian Bio-ship." M'gann announced.

To no surprise, Lina heard a couple voices surround her.

"_A flying machine? How primitive._"

"_This girl can fly, why would she need such a thing?_"

"_Machines that use and abuse us...a staple of the human scum."_

Lina shook her head a little, getting rid of most of the louder voices.

"_So jealous…_" The girl thought, keeping her head tilted to one side as she scanned the red dome. "_Although it would be cool to rely on a machine to fly...I wonder what it's like. How does it work?_"

"Uh...cute." Wally observed. "Not very aerodynamic, but cute."

"It's at rest silly. I'll wake it." M'gann waved her hand, and suddenly the egg began to morph. It flattened, the front extended and sharpened into tips and long wings protruded from the sides. As the airship took its final form, the entire team stood wide-eyed in surprise.

And then they all ran in, eager to see the interior.

The inside of the ship was dark, lit by dim blue lighting. There was a back section with a shelving unit and a bed that could be used for medical reasons, and a main hull with a captain's chair in the back with two orbs that were presumably used to drive the machine.

"Strap on for launch." M'gann spoke as six chairs emerged from the ground, living the ship's walls.

"Woah!" Robin cried as he sat down and cross-seatbelts wrapped themselves around his chest. Wally ran to the chair directly across from his best friend, Superboy cautiously sat in the chair at the direct front, and Kaldur and Lina took the seats on either side of him and in front of Wally and Robin respectively.

As she watched her new teammates' wonder, M'gann took her seat at the captain's chair, her own large grin stretching across her face.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors." The Martian spoke, placing her hands on the orbs on either of her sides.

As commanded, the giant hangar doors began to slide open and everyone inside the airship braced themselves as the craft lifted off the ground and took off.

Lina suddenly found herself grasping onto the wall beside her and onto her chair for dear life. When the sight of the town's titular harbor came into sight, zooming towards them, the French girl jammed her eyes shut.

"_This was a mistake! Big mistake!" _Lina could feel her mind reeling. _"Merde, I'm going to die! Where the hell is the support?" _

Superboy turned his head, eyebrow lifted.

"I can hear your heartbeat, it's quickened."

"_Yea no shit!"_

"I'm just...really not used to flying in a machine...apparently." Lina whispered, her body temporarily forgetting how to breathe. "But I'm fine! Totally okay…"

There was a moment of silence, then Lina felt a pressure on the hand that had a white-knuckled grip on her seat. Opening her eyes slowly, Lina looked down to see the clone beside her with his hand over hers. Out of pure surprise, her gaze speeded to Superboy's who looked back, emotionless.

"Physical contact is supposed to be comforting to people with anxiety." Conner explained without Lina even having to ask.

Lina blinked and her mouth gaped, wondering if this was the same boy who had just tore into M'gann for simply using her powers.

Superboy tilted his head to the side, listening more for Lina's heartbeat. It had slowed down to an almost normal pace, so he removed his hand and sat back up right.

Surprised, but not put out, Lina slowly straightened her back and began to focus on the scenery outside the large windshield in front of her. She was so shocked that she didn't even feel panicked at speed in which the landscapes were flying past.

"Incredible." Robin spoke as his face was practically glued to his window.

"She sure is." Wally looked, awestruck, at the captaining Martian. But when Robin turned to give him an accusatory look, the ginger snapped out of his gaze. "The ship is, I mean...which, like all ships is a...she…"

"Fast with his feet." Robin smirked up to M'gann. "Not so much with his mouth."

"_Dude_!" Wally cried.

The two male team members in the front of the helm however, weren't paying attention to their younger comrades as Kaldur leaned in closer to Superboy.

"I may not have psychic powers, but I can guess what you're thinking. You overreacted and you don't know how to apologize." Kaldur spoke in a low voice as to not alert the others. "Just say sorry."

Superboy looked away, not replying. But the Atlantean soldier knew he had been heard.

The girl they were referring to however, took Superboy's mostly silent demeanor to heart. She had witnessed the boy's compassion to Lina, and how differently that interaction had been as opposed to her own with him. As she thought it over, a pit grew in her stomach and a small frown grew between her brows.

"He'll come around, don't worry." Robin whispered, leaning over.

"He doesn't seem to like me very much…" The Martian girl observed, and upon seeing where her eyes were; Robin noticed the slight glances she was sending to Lina's way.

"Trust me," Robin chuckled, "you have _nothing_ to worry about there."

"You guys know Supey can hear you, right?" Wally interjected.

M'gann cheeks darkened to an almost forest green, before Robin heightened the volume of his voice.

"Hey, how about showing us a little Martian shape-shifting?" Robin asked, a little too loudly.

M'gann slowly stood up with a giddy smile and everyone turned to watch. Slowly, the alien's skin and clothes began to melt away, almost seeming to be covered by a black liquid of some kind, only to be replaced with a yellow red and black colour; until standing where M'gann had been was an older, female Robin in-uniform. Domino mask and all.

With a small twirl, the 'Girl Wonder' morphed into a female Kid Flash. Yellow uniform, yellow mask, insignia, and even the shortly trimmed ginger hair. The only difference between her, and the real KF was the endowed chest.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" The real Wally West asked, his voice almost sounding dazed. Lina let out a loud snort in laughter, which caught the yellow-clad female's attention.

Twirling once more, yellow and red faded to white and gold, then short ginger became long brown locks.

And suddenly Lina Dubois was looking at a realistic-looking Zephyr. In response, the original girl's laughter increased tenfold as she began to clap, amazed.

Robin joined in the applause. "Very impressive, but y'know you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those first two."

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder…" M'gann admitted, turning back to her original green form.

"And your clothes?" Kaldur asked.

"They're organic, like the ship." M'gann explained, listing the lapels of her pink cardigan to show that they stuck to her like some kind of clay. "They respond to my mental commands."

"As long as they're the only ones." Superboy growled. This seemed to hit M'gann deeply, and her body subtly curled into itself.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that 'Manhunter does?" Wally piped up, anxious not to let the tension from Superboy's comment linger.

"Density shifting?" M'gann asked. "No...it's a very advanced technique."

Robin was more than happy to try and cheer M'gann up…at his friends expense.

"Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall. When he tries it," Robin motioned to Wally who began making a clear 'please no' expression with his eyes, "bloody nose."

"**Dude**!"

"Here's something I can do!" M'gann exclaimed, and suddenly from outside the windows, the wings and the body of the ship began to disappear.

Lina suddenly became much more physically attached to her seat as she spouted out curse words in languages that nobody understood.

"Don't worry!" M'gann comforted, extending a hand towards the petrified girl. "It's only camouflage mode!"

"I'm sorry M'gann, this is really very lovely of you and a great experience." Lina stated with eyes as wide as saucers. "But your flying death machine is going to _kill me_."

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian." Red Tornado's voice appeared through the walls of the Bio-ship. "An emergency alert was triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate covertly. Sending coordinates."

"Received. Adjusting course." M'gann acknowledged.

"Tornado's keeping us busy again." Wally grumbled as the Bio-ship turned slightly and headed for its new destination.

"If there's anything we should learn from Cadmus." Lina said, forcing her fear down enough to turn to the boy. "Is that we shouldn't _ever_ underestimate a mission."

"We should at least find out what caused the alert." M'gann agreed.

"I think I know the cause." Superboy alerted, pointing forward. Everyone focused their attention to see a tornado.

A tornado headed straight for them.

The winds quickly swept the small aircraft into its clutches, and Lina swore she saw her life flash before her eyes.

M'gann grunted as she tried to gain control of the ship, but it was no use. The tornado was stronger, and sharply spun the craft round and round in a vortex. Finally, after a long moment, the ship was able to wrench free. It hovered over the ground and all the proteges' jumped ship.

Lina, the first to speed out from the ship's confinement, anxiously breathed in the fresh air in an attempt to quell her sickened stomach. However, the Winds around her were loud in complaints.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Robin," Kaldur called as he tried to ease his own stomach, "are tornadoes common to New England?"

But the only response he received was the sound of Robin's distant laughter. Everyone turned to see the Boy Wonder had disappeared.

"He was just here!" M'gann exclaimed.

Lina shook her head, "He does that."

Suddenly a small explosion drew their attention to a nearby factory, and the group of young heroes sprinted towards it. Heading the charge, Superboy and Lina soared through the air to enter through a hole in the ceiling. The duo quickly spotted Robin, lying on the ground as he had apparently been blown back by the explosion.

As the others ran in, Superboy and Lina turned to face what Robin was glaring at. They were met with the sight of a large, hulking robot floating just above the ground. His exterior was dark red with neon tubes attaching his arms and torso, and slanted eyes that made his look angry. The majority of his face was blocked by a long, tattered scarf that flapped behind him like a cape.

The similar make to a certain other robot didn't escape Lina's eye.

"Who's your new friend?" Superboy asked.

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kind of rough." Robin informed.

"My apologies," the scarfed figure cut in, "you may address me as...Mister Twister."

"_Oh mon dieu_, that's a bad name." Lina muttered under her breath.

As 'Mister Twister' raised his hands, the Winds around him began to contort and form into whip-like tornados which the robot aimed at a charging Superboy. The vortexes picked him up and sent him flying straight into a nearby wall, crashing hard enough to make a dent.

Once Lina blasted off the ground, she swerved down and attempted to deliver a full-bodied attack to the robot. However, she was quickly countered by Mister Twister flinging his tornado-whips into her direction. Steeling the Winds around her, Lina took hold of the tornados to stop them but with another surge from her opponent the girl was overwhelmed and sent flying back, her back crashing into a nearby support beam.

Upon seeing their two teammates so easily beaten; M'gann, Kaldur, and Wally all glanced to one another before facing off, the last of whom dug his hand into his pocket to take out his red goggles and slipped them onto his face. Once Robin groggily stood back up again, Kaldur made eye-contact with the others and nodded; signaling them.

As Mister Twister sent an attack their way, Wally ran ahead and leapt. Turning his body to try and do a double-leg springboard kick, the boy was quickly blocked by a large gust enveloping him and sending him up and through the roof. Kaldur and M'gann tried to run up while the robot was distracted, but with a single wave of his hand the two were sent flying out of the factory.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero." The robot chortled. "I was not, however, expecting _children_."

As Lina lifted herself back into the air, she found herself frowning. She could hear the cries of the Winds he was abusing, controlling without a care for the element itself. The girl used her own powers, summoning more and more Winds with her gentle calling as she faced Twister dead-on. "How about this superhero gives you a taste of your own medicine?"

And with that, Lina released her Winds. The gusts of air seized forward, blasting straight into the robot's chest to knock him off-balance before curving around his torso to encapsulate him. Fisting her hands, Lina tightened her hold, and the robot's limbs were forced into his torso: compacted.

"Do not pretend you're on my level, _girl_." The robot growled, and ripped his arms away from his body; sending the Winds away. Her own Winds were turned onto Lina, and she was sent straight into the ground. Able to catch herself, Lina pulled a breeze to wrap around her and she rolled back up; flying closer to the robot and swiftly extending her leg. Her Winds rolled with her body, moving up from lifting her and hurtling off her leg and aiming for Mister Twister's head.

It was just like sparring with her mentor.

However, almost effortlessly, Twister's hand extended straight through her air attack and latched onto the girl's foot. Before she had time to register, Lina was thrown up and through a hole in the ceiling.

As Lina was thrown into the air, she tried her best to gain some sort of grip on any Winds that would respond to her. But all summons were short and sloppy, her mind too focused on how fast the world was spinning and how quickly the ground below her was approaching. Her rookie attempts managed to catch the attention of some weak Winds, and Lina's fall was softened, but she still nonetheless hit the ground hard enough to knock all air out of her system.

"Zeph'!" Lina heard, and she opened her eyes too see Wally with his goggles looking down at her. "Are you alright?"

Groaning for just a moment, Lina nodded and the ginger helped her stand.

"_C'est bien_?" Lina asked, voice groggy but her mind quickly clearing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Wally nodded.

They were cut off however by the sound of mechanical whirring. They both turned around to see Mister Twister floating out from the factory.

The rest of the team were nowhere to be seen.

The two immediately snapped to action, rushing over to the robot. "What have you done with our team?" Wally asked.

"Embarrassed them largely." The robot said nonchalantly, and both felt a small sense of ease. But that was promptly ended as the robot sent a tornado into Wally. Before even thinking, Lina blasted off towards the boy; catching him and ripping him from out of the tornado's grasp.

"I have you." Lina eased, and she could feel the speedster ease as she made her way back down. Both of them were happy to see that the others had joined them outside, looking a little bruised and wind-swept but perfectly fine.

"I thought you all would have learned your lesson by now." Twister exclaimed, facing the children.

"What do you want?" Kaldur thundered angrily.

"Isn't it obvious?" The robot asked, rising up into the air. "I'm waiting for a real hero."

"Read his mind!" Kaldur spoke to M'gann. "Find a weakness."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?" M'gann exclaimed out of confusion.

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Robin yelled back, anxious.

The Martian girl focused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Nothing, I'm getting nothing!"

"He must just be a robot, like Red." Lina shrugged.

M'gann slapped her forehead, like she had done in the cave's kitchen. "Hello Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic, an android! How many androids do you know that can generate tornados?"

Lina frowned, then shook her head. "No way. Red would never put so many people in harm's way."

"Red Tornado _did_ send us here." Kaldur muttered. This took Lina by surprise. Had he not heard her?

"Right after he said we'd be 'tested soon enough'!" Robin barked.

"Guys!" Lina exclaimed, growing desperate and jutting a finger out towards Mister Twister. "I know my mentor, that's not him."

"Speedy called it, we're a joke." Wally growled. "This game, _so_ over."

Very few things could make Lina Dubois actually angry. People at school making fun of her disability, the dangerous French extremists that were severely damaging her mother land, the evil that she and her comrades fought everyday.

Those same comrades completely ignoring her.

But by the time she went to speak out again, it was too late. The three boys had already walked over to the robot flying high above them.

"We know who you are and what you want." Robin cried out.

"So let's finish this." Kaldur added.

"Consider it ended." The android answered, and he raised his arms high up and summoned two tornados. The funnel winds rose up into the atmosphere, collecting clouds to the center and turning the sky above dark.

Lina could hear the Winds crying in her ears, running wild.

"_Oh….merde._" The girl muttered.

"An impressive show." Kaldur called. "But we will not indulge you! We will not engage!"

His calls fell on deaf ears as the clouds above the teens began to crack with lightning. Sharp bolts reigned down, almost striking the Earth.

"Uh...can Tornado do that?" Wally asked.

"No!" Lina yelled back. "He can't!"

"You think I'm Tornado?" Twister asked. "Ironic."

And just then, a bolt of lightning struck the Earth. The force of the electrical attack caused all the teen's to fly back and hit the ground, save for Superboy who simply ripped off his newly destroyed denim jacket and leapt at the robot. His attack was short-lived however as he was directly stuck by another bolt, and the boy was sent plowing into the Earth; joining his teammates.

The robot approached the group, then stopped.

"Fine then." He growled. "I won't deny you children have power, but playing hide and seek won't help me achieve my objective. So stay hidden, and if you confront me again...I will show you no mercy."

And just like that, he was gone.

"What...just happened?" Wally asked.

"I put the Bio-ship between us." M'gann explained.

Everyone's attention was suddenly snapped to the clone as he demolished a nearby boulder with his fist.

"And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado."

Lina was quick to put herself between the two aliens. "That isn't fair." She spoke calmly and steadily, being careful not to anger the boy even more while still getting her point across. "She was just following a hunch, we all do it. And I _did_ try to tell you all."

Robin sighed, sounding distraught. "We should have listened to you Lin, not M'gann. It was a rookie mistake."

Lina's eyes flew open. "That is not-""You _are_ pretty inexperienced." Wally said, addressing M'gann as he shoved his hands inside his pockets.

"Stay _out _of our way." Superboy growled as he stomped past everyone in the direction Mister Twister had escaped from. Not long after, Wally sped off behind him, then Robin.

"_Am I speaking English right now?_" Lina wondered to herself. "_I _think _I am but clearly nobody can understand me."_

"I just…" M'gann lowered her head, as her body began to shake slightly, "wanted to be part of the team…"

Kaldur and Lina looked at one another, then down at the ground; the former rubbing the back of his head, and the latter fiddling with a strand of hair. "To be honest," Kaldur sighed, "I'm not sure we really have a team."

Kaldur began to walk away, but Lina stalled for a moment; kneeling down to Megan's level.

"I'm sorry." The older girl muttered, and placed a gentle hand on the other's shoulder. When she didn't get a response Lina exhaled deeply, stood up, and flew in the direction her comrades had left.

**Happy Harbor**

**July 18**

**16:50**

To say that the harbour was in chaos would be an understatement. The town was in utter shambles. Destroyed buildings were splintered beyond recognition from having tornadoes blown through them, boats from the nearby docks were strewn about the beach or ripped apart, and civilians were running and screaming as they tried to avoid being swept up in any of the spinning cyclones.

This destruction was not helped in any way however by the battle waging between the giant air-manipulating robot, and the teenage heroes that had finally caught up with him. But with the injuries still recently sustained by their past fight, and their short-fused attitude from their conflict with one another; it was becoming obvious that none of the teens were in a good enough state to take down the hulking metal figure in a regular fire-fight.

And that's when Red Tornado intervened.

"Hit the showers boy," The caped android commanded, "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"Come on, we have a plan now!" Robin cried, but it proved useless.

"The subject is not up for debate." The hero said strictly. And with that, the heroes sadly skulked away. But what Twister failed to see were the hope-filled glances the teens were sending one another and the smirks itching at their lips.

"I was beginning to think you'd never show up." Twister mocked.

"I'm here now."

As Tornado extended his arm, palm facing the ground, the air around the two androids began to pick up and the ground rumbled as a cyclone began to emerge. The funnel wind blew straight for the darker shaded robot, but he easily dodged. Twister made a tornado of his own, this one quite a bit larger, and sent it towards his opponent who swept his hand away. On cue, the vortex dissipated.

"We are evenly matched Twister!" RT called as another tornado appeared behind him, picking rocks and pieces of debris in the process before shooting towards Twister.

"No Tornado, we are not." The other android thundered as he punched the ground, which on command lifted all the air around it and shielded him against the oncoming projectiles. When it was safe, Twister summoned his lightning yet again. In an effort to protect himself, Tornado flew behind a wrecked boat but it proved in vain as the lightning struck the makeshift shelter and RT was struck by the electrical force.

As the darker coloured android looked over Red Tornado, snake-like chords emitted from his hand.

"Remain still, Android." Twister spoke lowly. "Reprogramming won't take long."

The chords were stopped however, by a thick red hand grasping them as the Android's head turned to reveal a female, green-skinned face.

"Longer than you might think." M'gann grinned.

As Twister let out a loud 'no', the wind and Earth seemed to quell to reveal a smiling Wally, and Lina lowered to the ground; a grin on her lips and her hands still moving as she controlled the formerly-debris filled cyclone. While Twister was frozen in shock, Superboy reigned down and landed a few strong hits which sent the android straight into the water.

He didn't remain there for long however, as he was soon shot back out with a few new fist-sized dents, and was followed by a victorious Kaldur. Not a moment later, M'gann picked up the villain with her powers and tore off his arms just as Robin shot a handful of exploding birdarangs to finish the job.

As the android's broken body crashed down onto its knees, and the team regrouped in front of it, a panel on its torso gave way to reveal a hidden hatch with a lean, long-haired, long-nosed man inside. Gravity claimed the man's body as he tumbled out of the machine.

"Foul!" The man warbled. "I call foul!"

What shook everyone to the core however, was M'gann stepping forward, telekinetically picking up a large boulder,

and dropping it right on the man.

"M'gann! No!" Kaldur exclaimed, but it was too late and the rock smashed down onto Mister Twister's driver.

Everyone was frozen, eyes widened out of a sudden paralyzing fear.

"What the f-""I don't know how things are done on Mars!" Robin screamed, narrowly cutting Lina off as he took an angry step towards M'gann. "But on Earth we don't _execute_ our captives."

M'gann smiled, satisfied with her payback. "You all said you'd trust me." As she lifted the boulder once more, she revealed the crushed remains of mechanical parts.

The man had been another android.

"That's why I couldn't read his thoughts." M'gann said snuggly.

A collective sigh of pure relief blew through the group of heroes.

"_Wow_ M'gann, first you come up with the idea to pretend to be Red, now this…" Lina gestured to the crumpled collection of parts, "you're really trying to show us all up, aren't you?"

Her smirking remark caused the Martian's smile to grow tenfold.

"Cool." Wally stepped up to the crushed parts and picked up one of the only remaining intact pieces: a mechanical eyeball that had detached from its socket. "Souvenir."

"We should have trusted you." Kaldur spoke, placing a hand on M'gann shoulder.

"Yeah, you really _rocked_ this mission." Wally grinned. "Get it? Rocked?"

Everyone rolled their eyes at that one.

"Ignore him, we're all just turbed you're on the team." Robin explained.

"This 'turbed' word you keep saying…" Lina squinted, "is it actually a part of the English language?"

Robin only smirked as he walked away, followed by a laughing Wally, and Lina felt a twinge of annoyance.

"_Damn Anglophones"_ she thought.

As M'gann and Superboy joined the two mischief-making boys in their walk towards the Bio-ship, Kaldur remained where he stood and turned to face his female comrade.

"We also should have listened to you about the Red Tornado theory."

Lina felt an ache in her chest lighten as she smirked back at the Atlantean, then nudged Kaldur's shoulder. "You're damn right you should have." But as she pulled away from nudging her friend, she noticed for the first time how bare his chest was.

Suddenly distracted, Lina let her eyes trail down the well-defined muscles that were no doubt formed from the years of military training he had done in Atlantis. Broad shoulders lead to sharply dipping collarbones, and sculpted abdominal muscles were framed by a defined waist.

Stopping before she got too low, Lina's eyes snapped back up to the boy's grey/green eyes. Her cheeks were suddenly warm and a loose knot formed in her stomach, but a strong smirk pulled across her face as she faced her friend.

"And I suppose you just _had_ to do your part without a shirt on?"

Kaldur's cheeks darkened, but a matching smile pulled at his lips when he had seen Lina's eyes tracing up and down his figure.

"Are you complaining about my work methods?" He asked smugly.

The knot in Lina's stomach tightened, but she brushed it off as a delayed reaction to seeing M'gann crush what she had thought was a human body. "Not at all." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and stepped back, heading towards the Bio-ship and the others. "Now come on, you have to join the others in the Bio-ship."

"And you don't?" Kaldur asked, raising an eyebrow as he joined Lina.

A shiver ran through Lina's spine. "Are you kidding? I am not getting back in that...machine for such a short flight."

**Mount Justice**

**July 18**

**17:40**

By the time the team had gotten back to the cave, night had already fallen. But everyone remained as to debrief with their pseudo-den-mother about the attack that had taken place. Throughout their story, Red Tornado remained silent and listened intently to the tale they told as he stood over Mister Twister's deactive body. Robin and Wally joined him over the mechanical parts, but instead of silently analyzing them they were playing with them, the young scientists fascinated by the technology.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you." Kaldur concluded.

"Agreed." Red Tornado nodded.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked.

"No." The robot replied. "This was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you, nor should you solve mine for me."

This seemed to take M'gann aback. "But if you're in trouble-" She was cut off by another robotic retort by the great master of tornados.

"Consider the matter closed.

And with that, Red Tornado began to walk away.

"Are...you sure _he's_ your mentor?" Robin asked Lina, causing her to smirk.

"Trust me," the girl responded as she gazed at her exiting mentor with a look of warm fondness, "he can get even _more _emotionally distant when he wants to."

"Batman, Aquaman, Flash...they'd have jumped right in to fix things." Wally muttered, almost in awe.

"Guess if we're going to have a babysitter," Robin shrugged, "a heartless machine is exactly what we need."

Lina snapped her head to glare a the raven-haired boy. "_Quoi_?" She exclaimed.

"Yea dude, harsh!" Wally claimed, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"Also inaccurate; I have a heart, carbon-steel alloy." Red Tornado's voice cut through the room. "I also have excellent hearing."

"Right…" Robin fumbled. "Sorry-I'll...strive to be more accurate."

"And more respectful." Kaldur smiled as he placed a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. Robin gave a sheepish smile in return.

"Speedy was so wrong." Wally sighed, a happy smile wrinkling his freckled face.

Robin grinned, and nodded. "This team thing…"

"Might just work out." Kaldur added.

Lina smirked, and joined the boys as they began to walk away towards the Zeta-tubes. "Was there ever any doubt?"


	10. In Which Stories Are Told

A/N: Already on chapter 10 guys! Can't believe it. I decided to include this little bit from the comics because I love it so much, and adds something to the characters.

Fair warning though guys: next few chapters may be a little late. Summatives, finals, and work are a'buzzing in June as I'm sure you all know. But don't worry, I'm still going to be working as much as possible.

**Martín Dance Studios, Paris**

**July 21**

**03:12**

To say that Lina was flustered would be putting it lightly. As she hurriedly attempted to pack up her music equipment and put her clothes on over her dance-wear, all at the same time she felt as if she wanted to slam her head into the dance studio linoleum flooring that she had just been practising on.

"_You know you don't have to rush, yes?" _The robust voice beside Lina spoke, sounding more than a little amused.

"_You closed __**four**_ _hours ago Quinn. Of course I have to rush!" _Lina exclaimed, sparing a hand away from her equipment to shove a tangle of sweaty brown hair out of her face.

Rolling his eyes, Quinn Martín found himself moving closer to his friend and took the speaker chord she had been attempting to coil out of her hands. "_If I had wanted you out, I would've have kicked you out Lina. Even if it meant daring to intrude on you practicing."_

The girl dared to look up to Quinn, still looking angry at herself, before sighing in defeat as she took his non-verbal hint to let him help.

"_Thank you_." She muttered as she stood and focused on putting a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt over the shorts and sports bra she had been wearing.

"_So,"_ Quinn spoke as he continued to pack up the last of the stuff, "_other than practicing here three hours a day and taking advantage of our business free of charge, what has the Fabulous Lina Dubois been doing?"_

"_Oh you know_." Lina shrugged, even though Quinn couldn't see it. "_This and that. Family to care for, crops to harvest, errands to run."_

"_Teams to form and genetic labs to implode._" She wanted to add, but she had promised herself long ago that she would keep her only civilian friend as Lina, separate from her life as Zephyr, even though a small part of her always wanted to disclose her many adventures to him.

"_That's all? You lazy girl."_ Quinn shook his head. "_Maybe that's why you can stay up, dancing your feet off after three in the morning. You must be sleeping so much…"_

Once again, she felt compelled to tell him the truth. She wanted to explain that no, that wasn't the reason. The real reason she could do this was because she had spent the last few days in Happy Harbor, so what little of an internal clock she had after two years of constantly having to bounce around the world, was set to Eastern Standard Time, where it was only currently dusk.

But instead, she simply laughed quietly and muttered a silent "Oui_, of course."_

"_You know," _Quinn stood up just as Lina finished putting her hair in a loose ponytail, both finished with their respective tasks. "_Mina Élysée is hosting an old silent movie marathon next weekend, if you're not too busy with family, crops, and errands…..we should go._"

Lina raised an eyebrow, "_Hasn't Mina hated me since I first came to the school?"_

Quinn looked a touch embarrassed. "_Touché...she didn't exactly know how to react to someone with autism…"_

Lina gave a half-hearted shrug. "_You can always go without me. I bet Chloe would love to go with you…"_

Quinn let out a deep, sarcastic laugh. "_No thank you. Chloe may be sweet, but I don't want to spend the whole night hearing how 'whatever artist' is better than 'whoever', and then have to try and find a good enough reason to fend her off at the end of the night."_

"Awww, wee lamb." Lina mocked in English. "_How cruel the world is that such a sweet girl is interested in you."_

Quinn rolled his eyes, then shoved Lina's radio and devices into her as he gave his cookie-cutter excuse. "_She's not my type."_

Lina gave a small snort as she shouldered her equipment. Then, she was distracted by her phone buzzing in her pocket. As she pulled up the small glass device, she saw that she had a message from her newest contact.

_HEy Lina!1_

_Wallyhad thr idea to gocamping twonigt! Want 2 joinn?_

_-Megan_

Lina smiled, amused. It was becoming evident to everyone in the team that M'gann still hadn't gotten used to human technology. The other day they had taught her how to use an electric oven properly (after yet another batch of hockey puck cookies). The experience was possibly the most dangerous thing they had done yet, including Cadmus and Mister Twister.

"_What are you smiling about?" _Quinn asked, as he leaned over to look at Lina's phone but she quickly shut it off and shoved it in her bra.

"_None of your business, Martín,"_ Lina smirked as she eyed-down her friend. As Lina's light blue eyes met Quinn's dark dark brown ones, he felt his resolve weaken. The pools of azure could have that effect on anyone if she wanted them to. He was just a little more vulnerable to it.

"_It was my brother, he wants me home,_" Lina spoke after a moment, a pang of uneasiness surging through her stomach as she lied to someone she considered to be one of her best friends.

"_Well, it _is _three in the morning." _Quinn shrugged, running a hand through his shoulder-length black hair.

"_You know how protective Calvin gets." _Lina shrugged. Quinn couldn't help but let out a loud howl of laughter.

"_Don't remind me. Remember the first time I visited your place? The guy interrogated me." _Quinn laughed. "_But I suppose you're not much better…"_

Lina frowned slightly at that. "_What? I am not even close to being as protective as Calvin!" _

Quinn gave the small girl beside him and gave her an unconvinced smile. "_Whatever you say, Cherie."_

Lina, not catching the sarcasm in his voice, simply waved her hand in dismissal and made her way to the door. "_Well, I best be off. Goodnight Martín, love you!"_

When the door to the studio closed, Quinn remained in the studio; alone and the room darkened by the loss of sun gazing through the windows. He dug his hands in his front pockets, his smile left on his face.

"_Goodnight Dubois." _

**Happy Harbor **

**June 20**

**21:35**

It didn't take long for Lina to fly home at top-speeds, shower, get changed into some nicer civvies, and zeta over to the cave. Another talent she had picked up in her years as a hero; she had become very good at quickly changing clothes. Robin had once told her that it was one skill every hero grew into after time.

And just as she thought of the young, raven-haired boy; he materialized in the Zeta-tube beside her.

"Fancy meeting you here Airhead." Robin cracked open a grin as his eyes met Lina's figure.

"You as well, Boy Blunder." Lina nodded. "I was just thinking of you actually."

Robin's smirk doubled in length, and a hand swept through his hair. "I knew my good looks and charm had to get your attention eventually."

Lina let out a loud snort of laughter. "Mhmm, sure. I think you've been spending a little too much time around Wally." She rolled her eyes. "Get back to me when you're not a _child_, okay?"

Robin joined into the French girl's laughter as they made their way into the kitchen, where they found Kaldur, Conner, and M'gann waiting.

"Ah, you two made it!" M'gann exclaimed happily. "Sorry for the last minute plans, but Wally's idea to go camping sounded like so much fun!"

"No problem M'gann." Robin shrugged. "Beats patrolling with Bats any day of the week in my book."

"It was kind of you to invite everyone." Kaldur nodded.

"But where's Wa-" Before Lina could finish her question, the ginger speedster sped into the kitchen with his hands full of camping supplies.

"Gathered a couple chairs, some firewood, scrounged the pantry for graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows; and now we'll cozy up together outside…"

Wally's voice trailed off as he entered the kitchen and caught a look at his teammates waiting inside, his expression full of surprise which led everyone to believe that these plans were not made with them in mind.

"We're going to need a lot more stuff than that if we're gonna go camping!" Robin smirked.

**Happy Harbor**

**June 20**

**21:56**

"This was a great idea, don't you think Wally? Camping in the great outdoors…" The cheeky mockery in Robin's voice could be heard a mile away.

After digging into some supplies around the cave, the group had found enough to be used for all six of them. Three two-person tents, a hammock, more firewood and food, a few chairs that could be used outside, even a cooler that the teens used to store the food in case of any animals that may be lurking in the woods.

It was the true camping experience, save for the actual home base that was less than a kilometre away from the campsite.

"I don't remember inviting you." Wally huffed. "Besides, I didn't say anything about _camping_. I said a camp_fire_. Big difference between just a campfire and the whole camping thing, I don't like camping outside anyways…"

Wally sent a grinning look over his shoulder at M'gann, who was sitting far back from the fire. As Martian and Atlantean biologies were extremely susceptible to high temperatures, such as fire, both M'gann and Kaldur had to sit far away from the fire as to not receive any unwanted heat.

"...unless, of course, I'm camping with that special someone."

"Dude, that was borderline _creepy_." Robin cringed.

If M'gann had noticed Wally's flirting or Robin's line, she didn't bother to show it. "Well, I think all of us camping is a wonderful idea!" The alien girl piped up.

"She didn't seem to think my line was too bad," Wally smirked.

Robin looked at Lina, noticing her holding back her on cringing. "She's probably on a sugar overload."

"Thanks to Wally, I get to try s'mores for the first time." M'gann cheered as she took a bite of the mushy marshmallow-chocolate-graham cracker concoction on her stick.

"What can I say? I'm a sweetie!" Wally quipped. "Get it? Cause s'mores are sweet?"

Seeing the Martian girl enjoying her own s'more, Lina looked down at her own with an alien look.

"I do not understand this dessert…" Lina muttered.

"They don't have s'mores in France?" M'gann asked, mouth full of gooey marshmallow.

Lina shook her head. "Marshmallows aren't very popular, and graham crackers aren't even available anywhere that _I_ know of…" After poking the melted sugars white goo spilling out from the dessert, the girl wrinkled her nose and handed hers to M'gann; who ecstatically snatched it and popped the dessert into her mouth.

"So this is what you do when you go camping?" Superboy asked, gesturing to their makeshift camping grounds. "Sleep in these flimsy things called 'tents' and sit around the fire?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much about it. So if you feel like heading home, I can sit here with Ms. M...alone."

"You're about as subtle as a train wreck, you know that?" Robin grinned. The flames reflecting off his sunglasses, which he was still wearing despite it being the middle of the night, made his mischievous features look downright malicious.

"You're not going to catch any fish unless you go fishing dude!" Wally replied, then seemed to catch himself as he looked back at Kaldur-who was cringing a little at the metaphor. "Sorry, no offence."

"_Usually_," Robin cut in, crossing his arms, "you sit around the campfire and tell stories."

"Oh!" M'gann exclaimed, whipping around to face Kaldur who broke off his eye contact with Lina to face the Martian. "I would **love** to hear your story Kaldur. Could you tell us how you became Aqualad?"

"I was thinking more of a ghost story type of thing but I guess…whatever."

Seeing the flames continue to brighten the boy's sunglasses along with the almost evil in appearance expression, a shiver ran through Wally's spine.

"Dude, tone down the evil villain vibes would ya? You're creeping me out!" Wally whisper-shouted.

"Oh, I suppose I could do that if you do not think it will be too boring…" Kaldur said, eyes darting around his teammates to get a reading on how they may feel about the suggestion. Everyone's interests seemed to be piqued however, everyone's eyes on him save for Robin's-whose head was tilted in his direction but his eyes still lay focused on the flames before him.

"Not at all! I would love to hear it!" M'gann nodded.

Ever self-conscious about being in the spotlight, Kaldur took one more look around the campfire. When his eyes landed on Lina, whose head was propped up in her hands as she waited for him to begin. Her eyes displayed such excitement, even though she already knew his story from many a telling, and the Atlantean felt a sense of confidence flow through him. His mind began to formulate his story, piecing together the chapters of his life as his grey-teal eyes became entranced by the fire.

"Well, I grew up in the city of _Shayeris_, which is a city in Atlantis. Surface dwellers think all Atlanteans are the same, but our kingdom has many cities, many people, many cultures. When I was twelve, I completed my education and began my mandatory service in the Atlantean military-which is standard for all at that age."

"After a while, I was transferred to the prestigious Conservatory of Sorcery in the Atlantean capital of Poseidonis. Queen Mera is the Head Mistress of the Conservatory and wife of King Orin, Aquaman. It was a very different time for me. It was difficult, as it would be for anyone at age fourteen I suppose, but also a time in my life where I met friends that I know will be with me for a lifetime."

"Then came a day...a _horrible_ day when Poseidonis was attacked by the Ocean Master. I can remember it vividly, as if it only happened yesterday. It was the day Aquaman almost met his end."

"Aquaman and Ocean Master fought for what seemed like hours. When the two clashed it seemed to shake the very foundations of the city. Ocean Master had gained the upper hand, and nearly defeated Aquaman." Then, Kaldur paused. "Correction: Aquaman _was_ defeated."

"Garth, a fellow student, and I intervened on the King's behalf. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The danger did not occur to us, the only thing that mattered to us at the time was that our King was in danger. It may have been one of the most foolish things Garth and I had ever done, as we nearly met our _own_ end. We had no hope of defeating him whatsoever, but the time we spent engaged in battle against the Ocean Master was time enough for our King to recover. That was all he needed as Aquaman finally triumphed over Ocean Master."

"Aquaman is a being of two worlds. On the surface world, he fights for justice of all beings, under the sea he is a leader of many. Both carry the weight of responsibilities. Overwhelming responsibilities that only the best of men can carry for so long. Even Aquaman cannot do both forever. Realizing that on the surface both Batman and Green Arrow had taken on apprentices that could one day take over their respective mantels, King Orin had been contemplating the same idea. With this in mind, he approached both Garth and myself with the possibility of becoming his proteges. I must admit, the possibility intrigued me immediately."

"I had never been to the surface world, and I will be the first to admit that I am a bit of an adventurer. Many is the day in class that I would dream of visiting distant oceans and possibly, one day, even the surface world. Both Garth and I _seriously_ considered the King's offer. But Garth ultimately chose to continue his studies with Queen Mera at the Conservatory of Sorcery. For me, however...the chance to visit the surface world was a dream come true. So at the age of fourteen, I became Aqualad. I miss my friends, Garth, Tula...but the chance to work with my mentor and King was an opportunity I could not pass up. I like to think the work that I am doing makes a difference."

"The rest of the story you know. Aquaman brought Aqualad to the surface world...and now I am here with you."

Kaldur's story elicited a smile from pretty much everyone, although on differing levels.

Lina stretched her back over the log she was leaning against, moaning slightly as she did. "I love stories of the fathoms below…" she sighed.

"So you wanted to be Aqualad?" M'gann asked.

"Yes, the opportunity alone...I could think of no other path." Kaldur spoke with a small, content and nostalgic smile on his lips.

"If you think he wanted to be Aqualad so badly, let me tell you about how _I_ got started." Wally piped up.

"Oh this ought to be good." Lina heard Robin mutter.

"It literally goes back a couple generations. Each generation of Flash has started with a **bang**! Literally! Jay Garrick was in a freak accident: Boom! There it is. During the 40s and 50s, he was everywhere. 'The fastest man alive', Jay Garrick was the first Flash."

"Then, one day this guy comes along; a huge fan of The Flash, wanting to know all about this Jay Garrick-back in those days Jay didn't really hide his identity-he contacts Jay and the two spend hours and hours talking about his adventures and his accident that turned him into the Flash. This guy even goes so far as to re-create the accident that created the original! But whereas Jay Garrick's was a complete freak accident, this guy rre-createsit under laboratory conditions; he set the whole thing up in his lab and _tried _to make it happen. Result? Still a big explosion, but lo and behold he becomes speedy mcspeed-speed himself! Now he's _The Flash_. Well, not the original Flash, but the new Flash...the Flash we all know! Now that I'm saying all this...they probably could have used different names…But now this time, he was even _faster_ than the old Flash! He had even _more_ speed!"

Wally popped another s'more into his mouth, then continued his story.

"Okay, so check this! The second Flash is a fan of the first Flash-Jay Garrick-and it turns out great minds think alike! Cause I was a fan of the Flash! The second one, not the first. Well, I was a fan of Jay Garrick after I got to meet him, but he was a little before my time."

"Long story short, one day I was in my Uncle's house and stumbled across his old notebooks, and got the shock of a lifetime. That was the day I found out my uncle was The Flash! Once the shock had passed a bit, I kept reading. He had been keeping a journal of all his experiences and experiments! Especially the one that made him the Flash-the second one, not the first-""We get it already!" Robin interrupted.

Wally ignored his friend's outburst and carried on.

"When I found _that_ out, I would kind of keep hinting to my uncle that Flash could maybe use and needed a partner. I mean, come on, by this time Bats already had Robbie over there, GA had Speedy, Aquaman had Kal...heck, even RT had Lina at that point! This was a total no-brainer! I've got to admit, Flash was a little resistant at first."

"Does this story sound confusing to anyone else?" Superboy asked.

"Just let me finish, and you will be confused no more Supey!" Wally winked, sending finger guns to the clone. "So, having his journal just like he saw the previous Flash's, I try to recreate the experiment with my _own_ chemistry set. And what do you know? I was actually able to do it."

"The experiment actually worked?" Kaldur asked.

"Well...not at first, actually." Wally suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. "I was hurt in the explosion, it was pretty bad...but although the super speed didn't kick in for a couple weeks, when it did; I was perfectly fine, and then I was off and _running_. I couldn't wait to show Flash! When he saw that I had powers, how could he _not_ want me as a partner? You guys should've seen his face when I showed him! This time he _jumped_ at the chance to have me as his partner, Flash couldn't wait to show me off to the world! He was beyond ecstatic, he couldn't contain his excitement! It was the greatest day in the history of the world! Why you ask?"

"We didn't." Robin snorted.

"That's the day the world got Kid Flash!"

Wally remained silent, as if waiting for people to applaud, then said with an air of victory and pride, "You. Are. Welcome."

"Ah yes, we're all so pleased that you're so speed-capable." Robin snickered. Wally shot a glare at him.

"What's the matter? Jealous?" Wally asked.

"Sheeyah, right. Jealous of _you_?"

"What about you Lina?" M'gann cut in, catching the small brunette's attention.

"_Moi?"_ Lina asked, then laughed awkwardly. "I can assure you, mine's not as interesting as fighting alongside great monarchs or sciencey explosions…"

"As long as it's not so confusing…" Superboy shrugged.

"C'mon Lin', you've got a great origin story!" Wally cheered on.

Lina sighed, a timid heat crawling up to her ears, and she found herself fiddling with a strand of hair.

"Well, then...I guess I should start with where I grew up. My family line worked in the circus industry for generations, right down to my parents, my brothers and I. We performed for a European Travelling Circus, Cortez' to be exact...it was my home. My father was a stagehand, he was never one for acts himself, but my brothers were a fire-dancer and an animal tamer respectively and my mother and I...we were an acrobatic duo! Aerial work, floor routines, silks, contortion, gymnastics...everything you could think of, we specialized in! Growing up in a circus...there's nothing else like it. The acts, the work that goes into it, the family...it's _perfect_."

Lina's eyes seemed to light up as she spoke, but then suddenly the light seemed to fade. "But then...there was a fire. The authorities never figured out how it started, but my mom and I got crushed in some debris when she tried to save me and...when the smoke cleared my mother had…passed. I was put into a coma lasting for months. Apparently, nothing in the circus lay untouched by the flames. With the destruction it wreaked, and then with one of the most prominent families in Cortez' history leaving after the death of their monarch...the circus closed before the end of the season."

"But then, while in my coma, this power in me suddenly manifested. Somehow, I don't know exactly how, I created a giant tornado in the France countryside. Thank God nobody was hurt, and the destruction was minimal considering. But when I woke, the Justice League was there. My family had explained everything to them and then; Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Batman came into my hospital room and talked to me. They told me of how Red was willing to take me in as an apprentice, teach me to control my powers, and Black Canary would help me heal while also teaching me hand-to-hand combat. My family wasn't too happy at this initially...but I agreed. I felt like I needed to do _something_ so it wouldn't happen again."

"Then started a whole year of training. Being in a coma for months while I healed from serious wounds had left my body weak and brittle, so I had a lot of work to do. But as I'm sure you'll all find soon, Black Canary is the perfect person to 'whip you into shape', no matter what shape you start off in. And then, after I was deemed ready by both my mentors, I was officially given the title 'Zephyr' and I started fighting evil. And now...here I am, with all of you."

"...I'm sorry about your Mother." M'gann frowned. The girl looked a little guilty, but Lina shook her head and smiled.

"It's alright, I have made peace with her passing. And besides, I know that wherever she is...she's happy that her family is all well and safe."

"You really don't know where your powers come from?" Superboy suddenly asked. His question surprised Lina, but she answered nonetheless.

"I do not. The League has apparently attempted to find out, I even was the subject of a couple of tests at STAR Labs for a couple of days because we wanted to figure it out, but...we simply do not know." Lina shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out soon." Robin shrugged. "Just gotta find the right people."

The French girl gave the younger boy beside her a smile and gently rustled his hair. "_Merci_...perhaps one day…"

"Can you tell us how _you_ got started Robin?" M'gann asked.

Wally answered with a loud snort of laughter, which seemed to put Robin in a very bitter mood as the raven-haired male looked away and began to pout a little. "Are you kidding? Bats won't even let him tell anyone his real name!"

Finally looking back at his best friend, Wally noticed that the youngest of the group was looking particularly uncomfortable. A slight blush was dusted on his cheeks, and his shoulders were slouched. The ginger also noticed the fact that Robin was avoiding looking at Lina at all costs. As if just looking at her, or as Wally knew-thinking too much about the story she had just told-would lead him to unravel. Wally sidestepped and reevaluated what he just said.

"I mean...you'll probably get a better origin story out of Supey over there." The ginger motioned to the shadowy figure across the fire from him.

"But you all already told me his story, didn't you?" M'gann spoke. "You told me that the four of you rescued him from CADMUS."

Wally nodded. "That we did."

"Yes, chronologically Superboy is only 16 weeks old," Kaldur explained

"And you don't have any memories of what happened before you were rescued?" The Martian girl asked Superboy.

If Superboy was at all anxious from having the attention suddenly tossed onto him, he didn't bother to show it. "I have some memories...from the g-gnome…it would teach me about the world outside while I was in the containment pod."

This made M'gann smile but then frown slightly. "So you _can_ remember things? When you were in the containment pod they would feed you information and you could remember it, right?"

"I guess so." Superboy shrugged indifferently.

"Well if you can remember what they taught you, you must have been thinking about things as they fed you information," M'gann said, her voice almost analytical in a sense. "What did you think about?"

"When I was in the containment pod, I _was_ fed _information_. But I really didn't start thinking for myself until I got out."

"Well what kinds of things do you think about now?"

The group seemed unsure of why the sudden interrogation had sprung up surrounding Superboy's thoughts, but when the clone hesitated in his answer the attentions of all the experienced proteges seemed to be piqued. And when the boy looked back at everyone with a gaze that was equal parts cold and empty, several warning signs began to go off in their heads. The only exception to this was Robin, who Wally noticed hadn't reacted at all.

"The one thing that's always on my mind..._destroying_ Superman."

Almost in unison, a chill crept up every single hero's spines. Upon seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, Superboy stood from his chair and turned away from the group.

"Are you serious Superboy?" M'gann asked.

Superboy paused. "...it's how I feel...sometimes. What if that's why I was created? What if that's the only reason I was created?"

"That's _not_ possible." M'gann shook her head.

"Yeah! Look at all the good stuff you've done so far!" Wally exclaimed.

"What would be the possible reasoning behind this thinking?" Kaldur inquired.

Superboy sighed, and his fists tensed by his sides. "I just feel...I don't know what I feel. Sometimes _thoughts_ happen."

"Those would be silly thoughts!" M'gann chipped. "You should put them out of your head."

"He does have a valid point." Robin pointed out, but the tone of his voice made it evident he did not want to be the realistic one in this scenario. "We really don't know anything about what they did to him yet…"

Reaching up, Lina touched Wally's arm and the two looked to one another for a moment, then nodded.

"We know he's one of the good guys, and we know he's part of the team," Wally argued, standing up.

"We know he fought side-by-side with us to get out of Cadmus, and helped to free us from being cloned ourselves," Lina added on, standing up herself and floating over to the clone. She was joined by Wally, spare s'more in his hand.

"In this world, _actions_ speak louder than words," Kaldur spoke. "Superboy has proven his intentions with his actions."

"Hero, villain. Human, or otherwise. Each and every living being has a balance of good and evil in them. That includes all of us here today, whether we choose to recognize that or not." Lina nodded and placed a caring hand on Superboy's shoulder. "What matters is what part of that balance we choose to act on. You've proven several times that you act on the good."

"Exactly!" Wally exclaimed, and shoved the s'more into Superboy's hands. "So put those thoughts outta your head Supey! And while you're at it, have another s'more."

Superboy looked down at the s'more, his expression shrouded in shadow. "Thank you...all of you."

As Wally and Lina sat back down, the former nudged Robin with his foot. "Dude, what's wrong? Not like you to zone out mid-monologue." Wally whispered.

"I guess Superboy isn't the only one lost in thought tonight…" Robin whispered back, ever so mysteriously.

An awkward silence spilled over the teens. The only sound surrounding them being the cracking of the fire and the odd rustle in the bushes. Nearly everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not wanting to continue in the awkwardness but not wanting to be the first to speak after such a dramatic moment. But never being one to like silence of any sort, especially amongst friends, Wally's eyes latched onto the only person who had not given their own personal origin story.

"Hey! Miss M! What about you? What's your dealio?"

"Oh...uh, I guess since you all told your stories…" M'gann cleared her throat, which had suddenly gotten very dry. "I guess, well, I'm from Mars…"

She slapped her head, "Hello Megan, you all already knew that!"

"All Martians live in underground tunnels because the surface is inhabitable. Our family lives are very intertwined because, as you already know, we mostly communicate telepathically. This helps the large families of Mars keep a sense of community and stay closer."

"Large families?" Wally asked, looking intrigued. "How many are in in your family?"

"Martian families are quite large. I myself have twelve sister and seventeen brothers. In my extended family I have over three hundred counsins." M'gann explained. Everyone's eyes widened at this, especially Wally's.

"Three _hundred_?" The speedster asked.

"Yes."

"Are they all girls like you?"

"Dude!" Robin exclaimed. "You are a class act!"

"_Dude_!" Wally called back. "Three _hundred_ girls that look like her? Now that's a planet I want to visit!"

Lina nudged Wally with her foot. "Bordering on creepy again, KF."

"Well, half of my cousins are male, but yes. Most Martians look similar...mostly Green like my Uncle J'onn and myself. But there are other...differences. There are also Martians who are red and white...but some on my planet do not see the whites as equal."

"_Well, that's a little ironic, compared to Earth…"_ Lina thought.

"My parents are both green, and I was raised in what would be called a 'liberal' type of environment. My family, _I_, have no issue with white Martians. Others...are not as tolerant."

"What made you come to Earth?" Kaldur asked, and Lina could notice a little bit of discomfort in his voice.

"Of all the brothers, sisters, parents, aunts, uncles; the family member I was closest to was Uncle J'onn. We had a great relationship." M'gann went on to explain. "We would watch exploits on Earth with the rest of the Justice League. He grew to be a true beacon of hope and stood for what our society could achieve. He became the most famous Martian in our history! And upon his return to Mars, it was considered a _planetwide_ celebration! But his return was not for adoration...he had a more specific purpose in mind."

"Upon learning about all of you-Robin, Aqualad, Zephyr, Kid Flash, and Speedy-J'onn decided now was the time to introduce a _younger_ Martian hero to Earth."

"J'onn J'onzz came back to Mars and declared he would hold a competition to find the next Martian champion that would be returning with him to fly amongst the heroes of Earth. I decided I would enter the competition, as it seemed so did half the population of Mars. I however, was coming to Earth. The competition was fierce and _dangerous_. It was exciting, and consumed the lives of every single Martian on the planet."

"At first, Uncle J'onn seemed as if he didn't want me to compete. I thought maybe it was because he didn't want me coming to Earth. I had seen some of his adventures, they were life-threateningly dangerous. But I was not going to let that stop me, I was determined to win! From everything I had seen and heard of Earth from that point...I had _loved_ it. I wanted to come see it for myself, I would _not_ be bested. I won the _whole_ competition."

"My heart soared! I was coming to Earth! This was the most exciting point of my life, and now I am here with all of you! I am a part of the Team! I truly love it."

"We are happy you're here with us as well M'gann." Kaldur smiled.

"You could say that again," Wally added.

"And I hope we continue to live up to the...what's that word…'hype'." Lina reached over to pat Megan's leg.

Pulling the conversation away, Robin stood and stretched. "Well...I don't know about you guys, but I think I've had one s'more too many. I'm going to hit the old sleeping bag."

"Yes!" M'gann cheered. "This has been such an amazing evening, but I am so excited to sleep in a tent!"

"I'm right behind you." Wally piped up, only to be pulled back by Robin.

"Yeah, only you're sleeping in _this_ tent right over here," Robin spoke, motioning to the tent that the two boys had agreed beforehand to share.

As everyone began to stand, M'gann turned to face Lina. "Are you turning in as well?"

"I believe so, I'll be in in a minute." The human girl nodded, stretching her neck to crack the bones. The girl with green skin nodded happily and zoomed over to the tent belonging to the two of them.

"Hey, next time you think we should go camping for real? Like in an actual camping ground instead of in our own backyard?" Wally asked.

"You don't strike me as the outdoorsy type...maybe next time we'll try down the hill a bit." Robin shrugged indifferently.

"You're certain your family is fine with you staying the night here again?" Kaldur asked the small French girl standing beside him, who nodded in response.

"Believe me, they are more than fine with it. Last I spoke with them my older brother said, and I translate, "it's good to have your sorry butt out of the house for once"." Lina laughed a little. "What about you? I hope this isn't stopping you from visiting Atlantis."

Kaldur shrugged. "Atlantis will survive without me for a few more days. For now, my place is with the team-my friends."

Lina smiled at this, and gently bumped her shoulder with his. "I'm glad to hear it! But for now, I think your place is getting some sleep." Kaldur's lazy smile turned into a chuckle.

"The same to you."

"In that case," The air-manipulator grinned and took a curtsy to both the Atlantean and the clone, who had been silently watching them with an empty expression, "I wish you _adieu et bonne nuit._"

Kaldur watched Lina turn and leave, a small smile itching at the corners of his mouth, but Superboy just turned to face the flames once again. After a moment, the Atlantean focused back on the Kryptonian.

"That was a fun evening indeed, but I think I will be turning in as well...unless you would like some company, Superboy?"

"No, that's okay." The younger boy barely made a physical notion of whether he had heard Kaldur or not, "I'll turn in soon. I just want to sit here with the fire a bit longer."

Kaldur nodded but didn't question the response. "Well, if you need _anything_; you know we are _all_ here for you."

And with that, Kaldur left to enter his own tent. But Superboy continued to stand, his eyes on the dancing flames but his gaze seeming to go straight through them. As if even though his body was standing there, in the makeshift camp site, but his mind and thoughts were...elsewhere.


End file.
